


Have a Nice Life

by far_from7



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-12-02 07:20:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11504463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/far_from7/pseuds/far_from7
Summary: For the first time in 6 months, Beca didn't feel like she was about to fall apart. And she didn't know if that was because she had finally grown strong enough to handle anything thrown her way, or she had finally been broken into pieces so small that they couldn't possibly fracture any further. But that didn't matter. Because she really, honestly, didn't care.





	1. Chapter 1

_“Please Brittany… Just… Please. I can’t do this anymore.”_

_“Beca I don’t…”_

_“Please... Just… tell me what you want. What do you want Brittany?”_

_“I want… I want to figure out how to get over you.”_

_Beca wasn’t able to do anything about the pain that lanced through her chest at the words, but she managed to just barely school her features into an expressionless mask. Silence stretched uncomfortably between them, it’s unyielding hold on the scene unfolding in the cold parking lot untouched by the distant sound of sirens and cars and life going on around them. The moment stretched and warped to a point that was almost painful and Beca’s tight control fractured as she realized the other woman was not going to elaborate further. She wasn’t going to fan the dying embers of hope quickly extinguishing with every agonizing second. Unable to bear the sight in front of her, the brunette let her eyes slip closed, turning her head sharply to the side as though merely closing her eyes wasn’t enough to block the sight in front of her._

_She felt, more than heard Brittany take a hesitant step forward. Felt the energy crackle as it always had between them as her arm raised, probably with the intent to comfort. Or hurt. Or hold. Who knew what she really wanted? Who knew what all of this meant to her? She said this was hard for her. She had reiterated over and over just how important Beca had been to her. Had whispered how terrified she was that Beca had the possibility of being the greatest “what if” of her life. That she was beautiful. That she cared. That everything was going to be ok._

_But how could any of that possibly be true?_

_The electricity between them flared and Beca shifted her right foot back, leaning into her heel and away from the hand that -she was able to confirm once she opened her eyes- was raised between them._

_Maybe it was a peace offering?_

_Beca released her pent up breath in a rush, a heavy and black sludge seeping in to fill its place almost immediately. She raised a slightly trembling hand and speared her fingers through the hair at her temple, raking her nails across her scalp before gripping her hair in a tight fist at the back of her crown._

_Brittany let her hand drop to the side, grabbing onto her elbow with her other hand. She cast her eyes down and slowly rocked her weight from one foot to the other. Beca could tell by the muscles clenching in the taller woman’s jaw that she was about to speak. And Beca just couldn’t. Nothing that came out of that girl’s mouth was going to feel good. Long gone were the days where Brittany was her only safe place in the hectic whirlwind of her life. Where she could silence an entire day of fighting and lying and the sounds of Beca’s younger siblings sobbing, -asking question after question that Beca had no hope of answering- with a simple curve of her lips or the sound of her voice. What had once been the only light in Beca’s sad and painful life suddenly became the most excruciating._

_What could only be described as panic flooded Beca’s chest as Brittany’s lips parted. She relaxed the death grip she had on her hair and lowered her hand to the back of her neck, roughly clearing her throat before opening her mouth to speak. Thankfully, the sound made Brittany close her mouth with a snap, her electric teal eyes shooting up to meet their stormy gray mirror. Beca felt the eye contact like a punch to the stomach, and it took every ounce of willpower she possessed to not shut her eyes or look away._

_“Okay”_

_The word came out hoarse, as though the screaming in her head and heart were actually real and had ripped her vocal chords in their ferocity. Brittany rolled her lips together as she gently furrowed her brows, confusion crawling slowly across her face._

_Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, Beca twisted her lips into the closest approximation of a smile she could manage. However, all she felt was the uncomfortable stretch and twist of the skin at the corner of her mouth as it shakily hitched higher on her face._

_“Yeah” Beca nodded, her face almost twitching in discomfort at being forced into such an unnatural position. If Brittany wanted to get over her, then she was ready. She was finally ready to let go. It wasn't worth it anymore. She had enough on her plate for this pain to really, really not be worth it anymore. Besides. This is what Brittany wanted. And all Beca had ever tried to do is give Brittany what she wanted._

_“Have a nice life. OK?” Beca felt the words rattle and catch around her stomach and up through her throat as she pushed them out. The effort it took left her feeling like a brittle shell of the already fragile and fractured person she had been going into this conversation. The words were not said with malice or spite. Though cracked and broken, they rang with a heartfelt clarity that was unmistakable._

_Brittany tightly closed her eyes, the only warning Beca was going to get before the look of hurt or confusion or whatever it was she was feeling could fully take hold. Beca didn’t wait to find out. Ripping her hand from her neck, Beca tore her eyes away from the emotional display unfolding before her and jerkily turned around, walking with controlled and even steps back to her car. There was a ringing in her ears that buzzed and rattled around her skull. It rose and thrummed, building with every steady step until it was almost painful in its intensity. The raucous cacophony swiftly overshadowed the cars and sirens and sounds of life. It drowned out all the thoughts and feelings rattling around Beca’s chest like a frenzied flock of birds. It muted the screaming and crying voice in the back of her mind and stilled the faint thumping of her heart as it struggled to beat._

_With the force of a car wreck, the sound of a single stifled sob broke through the roar surrounding her._

_Beca’s whole body jerked at the sound, her steady retreat momentarily paused. For the span of what felt like several hours, but was really probably just a handful of heartbeats, Beca waited. Waited to see if Brittany was going to call out. To cry and say she was wrong. That she didn't want to let go. That Beca was worth fighting for. That she wouldn't follow through with providing yet another truly spectacular example of how trusting and needing people only resulted in pain and disappointment as if she didn't already know. As if it wasn't an already fully established fact that people in general were cruel and selfish beings. Beca had thought Brittany was an exception. A light in a world full of darkness. Oh, but look how wrong she had been. Because Brittany didn't say a word._

_Without warning, the ringing just… Stopped. And then there was nothing. The voice in her head didn’t speak back up. Her heart resumed its beating, but the steady thumping seemed almost apathetic as it lazily hitched and bucked around her rib cage. The birds in her chest were still. She was hollow._

_Beca resumed her steady gait, however she didn’t have to concentrate quite as hard to make sure that her steps were even and smooth. As she continued the walk to her car, Beca noted with mild apathy that the muffled sounds of crying behind her didn’t hurt as much as she had thought it would. It didn’t hurt at all actually. She felt...nothing._

_She clicked the button on her key fob before opening the car door and reaching down to pop the latch for her trunk. Beca walked around and swung the lid up, scanning the mess in front of her and purposefully reaching in to sift through the clothes that somehow always managed to accumulate. Finally her eyes lit on what she was looking for, and her lips twisted into a grotesque parody of a smile._

_Beca popped the lid of the carton and thumbed out a cigarette, grabbing it with her teeth before she reached in with her other hand to grab the lighter that was also nestled inside. As she flicked the lighter and inhaled her first drag, she threw the trunk closed, glancing up at the sound of feet scuffing over the pavement. The smoke burned in her throat and lungs, the pain like a long lost friend crawling into her pores. Beca watched as Brittany reached down and opened her car door, looking over at her to… what. Say goodbye? Get one last good look? Beca realized in that moment she honestly didn’t care. She didn’t really care about anything if she was being honest. The smoke rushing out of her mouth created a pearly thick cloud in front of her, and for a moment she was unable to make out the tall woman across the parking lot._

_When the smoke cleared, it was just as Brittany was pulling her car door shut and the small black compact’s engine roared to life. The car backed out and drove away and she was officially gone, and Beca strongly suspected that this time, it was for good._

_Beca grunted, pulling out her phone to check the time and bit the cigarette between her teeth as she swung open the door to her own car and dropped heavily inside, sliding her key into the ignition in one fluid movement._

_6:43_

_Emily would be getting dropped off from her violin practice right about now, and she really should get home soon to get dinner going or Nathan would end up working his way through an entire box of cereal. Again. And God knows he probably hadn’t even started on his homework yet..._

_However, instead of fully turning the engine over, Beca just clicked her key far enough in the ignition so that she could roll her window down, closing the door and propping her elbow on the armrest, dangling her forearm lazily over the edge of the window so that she didn’t get smoke in her eyes._

_The emptiness inside her stretched and grew, blanketing her in its comforting and cold embrace. If Beca cared enough, she would have been surprised by the lack of pain and confusion. She would have marveled at how she wasn’t a blubbering and crying mess. She had assumed that if another bad thing happened, she would have another panic attack, or at the very least would have felt the familiar rippling ache of anxiety race down her arms and through her chest. Hell...After everything she had been through, she figured another nervous breakdown was probably a very real possibility. But this?… Well... this was almost nice._

_For the first time in 6 months, Beca didn’t feel like she was about to fall apart. And she didn’t know if that was because she had finally grown strong enough to handle anything thrown her way, or she had finally been broken into pieces so small that they couldn’t possibly fracture any further. But that didn’t matter. Because she really. Honestly. Just… Didn’t care._

_Beca sat there until she had smoked the whole cigarette. When it was done, she hastily grabbed another, using the dying butt to light it. And when that one was done, she smoked one more, just for shits and giggles. There was no reason not to anymore. It was always Brittany who hated the smell._

_When she finally did turn the engine over, the bright green lights of her dash almost blinded her after having become so accustomed to the dark._

_7:52_

_Well shit. Too late for dinner. Beca slipped the phone from where it had been resting between her legs and tossed it into the passenger seat. It landed with its screen facing up, several missed calls and texts blinking and flashing as though desperate for her attention. The light was abrasive in the corner of her eye, so Beca blindly reached over and flipped the phone around. The kids could figure it out on their own tonight. While Nathan was only 11, Emily was almost 16. She was fully capable of figuring out dinner and making sure Nathan brushed his teeth before bed. Beca’s blanket of emptiness was almost punctured when her mind drifted to the possibility of her dad showing up. Of him having another one of his “episodes”... But Emily could handle that as well. She would have to. It was her turn. Or just... It was somebody else’s turn._

_Because tonight Beca was going to go and get a drink. And she had a strong feeling she wasn’t going to be back by bedtime._

* * *

 

Beca almost winced at the sound of the petite brunettes back colliding roughly with the bathroom wall. Any sound of protest was immediately drowned out and swallowed as Beca surged forward, capturing the other girl’s lips in a bruising and vicious kiss. Rachel -or was it Rhonda? - didn’t seem to mind Beca’s rough treatment, returning the kiss as best she could in her obviously drunken state. Beca wasn’t much better to be honest. She had become very familiar with the hazy tint at the edge of her vision and the way all the sounds in the club seemed to mesh and meld into a solid wall of sound crowding in on her ears. The other girl -Ricky? No- raised her hands to brush them across Beca’s chest, but she roughly shoved them away, pressing her body closer as she simultaneously wedged her hand between their flush bodies and fumbled with the button on the other girls jeans. She wasn’t doing this so that she could be touched. She was doing this because she wanted to fuck something. She wanted to play with another person’s body, and watch as they responded to her touch. It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t nice. It wasn’t even particularly sexy.

Beca ripped herself out of the kiss and hungrily latched onto the other girl’s throat -maybe it wasn’t an R name. Julia?- as she quickly pushed the zipper down and forced her hand inside annoyingly tight jeans. Honestly. Skinny jeans were sexy and all, but jesus christ where they inconvenient in these situations.

Just as Beca’s fingertips grazed wet and molten heat, the throat beneath her lips vibrated as a high pitched moan, bordering on a scream was loosed above her. Beca rolled her eyes in annoyance and quickly pressed her free hand to the other girls mouth. Of course she would be a screamer. Beca hated screamers. The sounds always seemed so forced. Fake, even if they actually weren’t. Either way, she hated it. Beca worked her fingers in the other girls pants, mumbling curses into the crook of a neck at her lack of room to really do anything that could possibly feel good. Julia -fuck it. Why not. She looked like a Julia- didn’t seem to care, letting loose wet and open mouthed moans into the hand that was firmly locked around her mouth. Either she was faking it, or Beca was just that good. Beca didn’t really care either way. This wasn’t about giving pleasure either; not hers. Not...Julia’s… or whatever her name was.

A loud banging made Julia jump beneath her, but Beca didn’t so much as flinch, awkwardly and almost a little painfully working her wrist to apply a firm and constant pressure as she rubbed tight little circles as best she could in the severely restricted space.

“Hurry the fuck up! This isn’t a fucking hotel!”, a voice bellowed through the thin door.

Beca growled in frustration. Between the stupidly tight pants and the yelling and the decidedly offensive sounds of ‘pleasure’ being emitted, this was quickly proving to be a mistake. Turning her head to the side so as to not yell directly into Julia’s ear, Beca ripped her hand out her pants and banged back on the door, growling loudly to be heard over the deafening bass in the air.

“Wait your fucking turn, asshat!”

Turning back to the girl in front of her, Beca removed her hand from the other girl’s mouth and forcibly yanked on the belt loops at the girl’s hips with both hands, pulling the pants down just enough where Beca could more easily reach her hand inside and quickly forced two fingers into the wet heat that was waiting for her, resting her forehead on the smooth curve of a collar bone.

Much better.

Beca made quick work of the girl, who as it turns out, really was that good at faking it, or Beca really was just that good in general, because in seconds, her voice was ringing loud and clear in the small and cramped bathroom, regardless of the hand that had yet again clamped across the opening. Between the dying cat sounds from above her, and the pounding and yelling at the door to her right, Beca really wasn’t even all that turned on anymore. She just wanted this to be over and hoped that the increasing volume actually meant the other girl was close because her wrist was starting to cramp again and the feel of saliva and drool collecting in her palm was really starting to gross her out.

Finally, Beca felt the other girl stiffen, and the hands on her shoulders turned to talons as nails bit uncomfortably into her skin. Beca waited impatiently for the sounds to die down from their climax -Beca found herself grinding her teeth so hard in irritation that her jaw actually ached- and for the claws to be retracted before smoothly pushing herself off the wall and turning clumsily to the sink. She was barely able to hear the sound of a zipper over the heady thumping of bass before she turned the faucet on to wash her hands. It was obvious what the two of them had been doing in the bathroom, but Beca didn’t want to smell like sex for the rest of the evening. Not to mention her only slightly less wet other hand from the pixies drool. Gross.

Julia -shit. Now that she was able to get a better look, there was no way she was a Julia. Maybe Jordan?- smiled lazily at Beca through the mirror, slowly rolling her head back and forth as she rested it back on the filthy tile. Beca pressed her lips together in smile that didn’t even come close to reaching her eyes before looking away, scanning for a paper towel dispenser. It really shouldn't have surprised or irritated her as much as it did when she saw that the dispenser was not only broken, but empty, and Beca was only just able to manage turning her frustrated growl into a disappointed and annoyed sigh, hastily wiping her damp hands on her dark boot-cut jeans. She was about to walk out the door when she paused, glancing behind her at the toilet. Beca lifted her foot up and kicked the toilet handle down with the toe of her boot, the crashing sounds of it flushing finally silencing the banging and disgruntled voice on the other side of the door. Looking back to make sure the other girl was decent, Beca unlocked the door and stepped out.

The music had been loud in the bathroom, but it was nothing compared to the wave of sound that immediately crashed into her as she made her way towards the main floor of the overly packed club. Beca and… the girl received a dirty and heated glare from the shirtless twink in suspenders that was undoubtedly the source of all the banging and yelling.

“Fucking lesbians”

Beca rolled her eyes and flipped him off before effortlessly slipping into the sea of bodies before her. When she was finally able to break her way through the throng of sweaty and gyrating bodies to the bar on the other side, she was able to quickly flag a bartender down and ordered another Jameson double. When she settled against the hard and slightly sticky surface, Beca turned her head and was genuinely surprised to see the girl -OK. It was Jordan. She was sure of it- heavily lean on the bar top next to her, looking up through lashes in a way that was probably meant to be sexy. It wasn’t. She also looked like she was expecting Beca to say something. She didn't.

When Beca remained silent -and really, that should have been enough of a hint to go away- the pixieish brunette slid forward and pressed her front against Beca’s bare arm, playfully running her fingers over the lines of the intricate half sleeve tattoo that curved around her shoulder and disappeared underneath the striped gray vest that was fastened snugly over a lacy black bra that peaked around neatly pressed lapels. Beca had to stop herself from sneering and pulling her arm away. Yep. Definitely wasn’t worth it. At all. Holding in a groan, Beca rolled her head to the side and lifted her hand, gently pushing the girl away from her body. Confusion flashed across dark eyes, so Beca growled to herself before turning to fully face what was only providing further proof of being a mistake. And yeah, maybe she wasn’t normally this dismissive and cold, but she really, really, hated screamers.

“Look…”

“Alice”

Oh wow. She wasn’t even close.

“”OK. Alice. I know this is probably really fucked up, but that was just…”

“A one time thing?” Relief flooded Beca’s small frame as she was saved from having to finish her sentence.

“Yeah. It was a one time thing. So…” Beca hitched her eyebrows and jerked her head to the side as she inhaled noisily through her clenched teeth, as obvious and blatant of a dismissal possible without actually saying the words.

Alice squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side, looking at Beca as if seeing her for the first time. When she had started staring long enough for Beca to have skated though irritation and was swiftly approaching angry, Beca rolled her eyes, opening her mouth to say something sarcastic or mean or… just something to make her go away.

Alice beat her to it.

“You know. You’re fucking hot. I'll give you that. But you are really fucked up, aren’t you?”

Beca barked out a humorless laugh, caught in an awkward place between genuinely amused and vaguely insulted. The bartender chose that moment to drop an overflowing glass -yes. Glass- of whiskey on the bar top. That was definitely more than a double. A triple? Shit. It was practically a cocktail glass full of amber liquid. No ice. All traces of anger and irritation dissipated as she glanced up and caught the eye of the pink haired bartender as she walked away, smirking with a wink as she flicked the towel off her shoulder and started wiping the bar top down a few feet to her right. Beca smirked and winked back, turning around so she could rest her elbows on the bar behind her and took a healthy gulp of the burning liquid in her hand. Alice shook her head in disgust before walking away and she was just able to hear a vehement “Fucking cunt” grumble out as she was passed. Beca almost laughed.

“Hey Alice!” The dark haired pixie paused in her retreat and glanced over her shoulder.

“Have a nice life. OK?”

“Fuck you”

At that, Beca actually did laugh, shaking her head before upending the entire contents of her glass and downing it in three consecutive gulps. Reaching inside her tightly fastened vest, Beca pulled her phone out of her bra cup to check the time. 11:57. Still early. Plenty of time to dance and sweat the alcohol out enough to drive home. Using her elbows to propel herself away from the bar and into the tangled mass of people in front of her, Beca finally let go, moving and swaying and sweating and grinding in the sea of bodies. She breathed the same stale air as everyone around her. They all moved to the same beat. They all felt the same haze of alcohol burning in their blood. The air itself was thick with sex and the wonton release of everyone just… letting go. In that sweaty and swaying mass of bodies, Beca finally let herself get what she had come for. With some girl’s hips grasped between her hands and some guys junk grinding against her ass, she lost herself. And it was perfect.

* * *

 

Beca grunted as a slimy and wet tongue swiped across her cheek and into her eye, slowly pulling her out of a coma like sleep. Jeff, her 2-year-old border collie mix was half standing on her bed, whining pitifully as he tried to rouse his owner from her deep alcohol induced sleep. Beca cracked one of her eyes, immediately groaning as the bright rays of sunshine lanced like daggers through her socket and straight to the back of her skull. There was an annoying vibrating pinching at the base of her spine, and Beca twisted her back, blindly reaching and groping around for the source of the discomfort. Beca wasn’t able to pull the phone out in time to see the identity of the caller flashing across the screen, but when her eyes finally focused and adjusted to both the bright light of the room and the pounding in her skull, she was vaguely able to make out that she had several missed calls and even more texts.

She could easily guess the source of at least half of the messages, her friend Cynthia Rose probably freaking out and wondering if Beca was even still alive after disappearing on her at the club the night before. But even for CR, 7 missed calls and 13 texts was pretty excessive. Frowning, Beca pulled the phone closer to her face, her eyes annoyingly blurry after having slept in her contacts for the umpteenth time. Sure enough, the first 4 missed calls were from CR, all ranging from between 2 and 4 in the morning. Beca frowned as she tried to remember how she had gotten home. A painful pinching at her waist was enough of a confirmation that her keys were still wedged tightly in the pocket of her jeans. That meant she had either driven home, or gotten someone to drive her home. Beca scoffed internally at the thought. Ha. Yeah…She definitely drove home. That one time where she had decided to come back for her car in the morning to discover an empty spot and $400 towing fee had left a very lasting impression.

Once upon a time, Beca would have felt the burn of shame and mortification at the thought of endangering her life and who knows how many others by driving in such an inebriated state, but the occurrence had become frequent enough where it barely phased her. If she got caught, she got caught. If she got in a wreck, Beca’s only hope was that the crash would be severe enough where she would go quickly and painlessly. She would even settle for just quickly, or… You know… At all. It’s not that she was suicidal...she didn’t think. It’s not like she thought about it or was planning anything. She could never do that to Em and Nate. But if something happened and as a result she maybe didn’t exist anymore? The idea was strangely soothing.

Beca shook the musings from her head as she refocused on the phone in front of her face. It’s not like it mattered anyways. Obviously she had made it home. Safely. Again. And if she felt a slight hint of disappointment, so what?

Her eyes flicked up the remaining missing calls. The first name caused a familiar spike of annoyance. Her mother. How long had it been since she had spoken to her mother? Two years? Almost three? Whatever. Beca swiped her thumb across the notification, deleting it and the accompanying message just like she did every other time the older woman had tried to contact her over the years. And while Beca had never outright asked her mother to stop trying to contact her, she really figured that it would be obvious after a couple years of complete radio silence that maybe she should just stop trying.

The last two missed calls finally caught Beca’s attention and she abruptly sat up, hissing in pain as her brain clashed and collided with the walls of her skull. Beca immediately pressed the call back button and pressed the phone tensely to her ear, pressing the palm of her free hand into her left eye. For some reason, Beca always felt her hangover more on the left side of her brain than the right.

The ringing was cut off as the other line was answered after the second ring. Beca didn’t wait for a greeting.

“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

Beca heard the scoff on the other line, but there was no humor in the sound.

“ _Oh I’m fine. Are you_?”

Beca felt the tension ease out of her shoulders as she let herself fall back to the bed. The heavy jostling didn’t do wonderful things for her headache, but it felt good to let herself relax back into the plush surface of her mattress. “I’m alive.” Jeff jumped back up onto the bed and started licking her face again. Beca groaned in annoyance, gently shoving the excited bundle of fur away from her and rolling onto her side. “What’s up? Why are you calling at this ungodly hour?”

This time, Beca was able to hear humor in the laugh that filtered through the phone. She felt her lips quirk in what currently passed as her smile. It still didn’t quite reach her eyes, and hadn’t for a very very long time. But it had been a solid 8 months now where the expression didn’t actively hurt, so that was something.

“ _Jesus Becs. It’s almost noon. Is that why you didn’t answer? Are you still in bed_?”

“Hey. Don’t forget about the time difference. It may be almost noon for you, but that means it’s only 10 here so…”

“ _No. It’s almost 2 here. It’s noon for you. No students_?”

Beca pulled the phone away from her face to squint at her screen. Though why she even tried at this point was a mystery. Her contacts were so fogged up, the screen pretty much just looked like a black and fuzzy square.

“Not until 3:30. So to what do I owe the honor of the phone call? You just calling to check up on me or…”

“ _Hey. Can’t a girl call her favorite older sister from time to time_?”

“Em. I’m your only sister. You could at least say I’m your favorite… I dunno… lesbian or... Give me something.”

Emily’s laugh was full and clear this time, and again, Beca twisted her lips up at the sound. Emily had never quite reached the broken state that Beca had through their whole ordeal, but it was close. When Emily had first explained that she had been accepted to a prestigious music conservatory in Oklahoma of all places, nearly everyone in the family had tried to convince her to stay. Their mother had cried. Their father had barked out some harsh and inappropriate 'joke', clearly intended to cause guilt. Beca however, had quietly taken her younger sister aside, hugged her fiercely, stated her unwavering pride at the younger girl’s accomplishments and whispered with only a hint of desperation to “Go. I’m so glad you are getting out”. Emily may have been less broken, but it still took over a year of her living 4 states away for her voice to resume its happy lilt and for her eyes to lose that haunted and pained look Beca knew was reflected in her own every time they found time to skype.

“ _Sorry Bec, but that space is reserved for Ellen_.”

Beca grunted in acquiescence, before frowning. “Wait. Which one?”

“ _Both_?”

Beca scoffed through her nose. “Touché. But for reals. What’s up. You only call me before 5 if there’s something wrong.”

Jeff was starting to really get on her nerves with his incessant nudging and licking, so with a groan, Beca sat back up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Her calves and thighs burned pleasantly as a result of the vigorous work out they had been put through the night before as she leveraged herself to her feet, noting with a small amount of wonderment that she had managed to remove her calf length boots before falling into bed the night before. As soon as she was fully standing, her headache flared with a renewed intensity, and Beca hissed, blindly reaching out to grab the edge of her bedside table to steady herself through the wave of dizziness and nausea that raced through her body.

“ _Jesus Christ Beca. I can hear your hangover from here. Why do you do that to yourself? It can’t feel good…_ ”

“Hey. You have movie nights with your boyfriend. I have club nights with alcohol.”

“ _Yeah. Well… My movie nights with Benji aren’t near brushes with death so…_ ” The words were teasing and light, but Beca could hear the underlying worry and anxiety lacing the tone. Beca tried to keep the details of her life from both of her siblings, but Emily knew. Emily knew from the moment Beca had stumbled home that night after the parking lot all those years ago that something had changed in her older sister. The steel rod that had held her up and supported her while she did everything she could to keep the three of them together and whole and safe while everything was falling apart had finally snapped, the evidence plain as day, written across a sharp face with steely gray eyes that had lost its ability to truly smile. Unwilling to delve any further into this particular topic with her 20 year-old sister, Beca grunted in submission, pushing herself away from the bed and groped her way to the bathroom.

“Can we just get to the point of why you called please?”

Beca flicked the switch and immediately regretted her decision, wincing at the bright fluorescent light that filled her white tiled bathroom. When she turned and caught sight of her reflection in the giant mirror over the sink, her wince turned into a grimace. Her heavy black makeup was smeared messily around her eyes, and her hair was matted awkwardly at the back of her head, her sweat from all the dancing having caused it to matt messily into a hopeless tangle. When she turned her head to the side to try and better inspect the damage, her eyes caught on something unexpected. _What the hell_?

“ _Mom called_ ”

Beca leaned closer to the mirror and craned her head to the side, squinting through the fog of her probably ruined contacts. “And?” Even through the milky haze she could make out the dark and angry hickeys dotting her skin, ranging from just above her collarbone down to beneath the cut of her lacy bra that peeked out from behind the vest that was salaciously askew around her tiny waist. Where the fuck had those come from?

“ _Beca… You know it’s been almost 2 years. Don’t you think maybe it’s time to-_ ”

“Seriously Em? That’s why you called?”

Beca continued to frown in confusion over her mystery hickeys while she searched for her contact case, her attention now split between the conversation with her sister and trying to wrack her brain for any recollection of who her second hook up may have been. Emily sighed heavily into the phone.

“ _No. That’s not why I called. Though it’s kind of annoying that I have to act as a go between every time she want’s to relay a message_ ”

Beca wedged the phone between her ear and shoulder as she leaned in, clumsily managing to poke herself in the eye no less than twice before she managed to get her stupid contacts out.

“Then tell her to stop relaying messages. Then everyone’s happy.”

“ _Well, this one is about Nate._ ”

“Then why didn’t he call me? He has a phone. I know. I bought it for him.”

“ _Mom is worried about him._ ”

“Oh. Well THAT’S rich.”

“ _Beca!_ ”

Beca huffed and screwed her contact case shut with unnecessary force, almost dropping it with her unusually uncoordinated fingers.

“Look. Just because you are buying into this whole ‘I know I was a shit mom for 23 years, but I’m better now, I promise’ act, doesn’t mean I have to as well.”

The silence stretched uncomfortably across the phone line. This. This is why she hated talking about her parents with her siblings. She and Emily agreed on most things. They understood each other better than most can even hope to understand another person. And on a certain level, Beca understood and respected why and how Emily was able to forgive and forget so easily. But Beca had no such luxuries. Emily hadn’t heard what she had heard. Emily hadn’t had to say what she’d had to say. Emily hadn’t given and lost as much as Beca had. And Emily knew it. She may not know all the details -and Beca was going to keep it that way- but Emily was very aware that much had transpired from which she was still blissfully ignorant. Thankfully, she never asked. But she did occasionally try and sway her stubborn older sister into trying to allow the gaping hole in their family to start to mend.

A streak of pink suddenly flashed through her mind, and Beca eyes widened. The bartender! Wait… Did she leave with her? How the hell did she end up home then? She didn’t… Oh god…

“Fine. I’ll bite. What’s wrong with Nate”

Beca stalked out of the bathroom to her bedroom door and poked her head out, listening intently for any signs of life in the livingroom or kitchen at the bottom of the stairs. Sure enough, she could hear the soft sounds of a conversation. So either Jesse had brought someone home -not the most improbable possibility out there, but a very very close second- or Beca had. Which was arguably the first most improbable possibility, but small snippets of memory were slowly returning, bright flashes of pink and a not entirely repulsive mouth hot on her neck and chest in the back seat of her car flashing with startling clarity. Well shit.

“ _He wants to go camping._ ”

What?

“Um… What?”

“ _He wants to go camping with some friends, but mom is worried that there’s not going to be enough adult supervision_.”

“And what does dad say about all this?”

“ _Becs… You know that-_ ”

“Exactly! Why is she calling me and not her ex-husband, who happens to be the father of said child?”

“ _If you’re trying to make a point, it’s really unnecessary_ ”

“No. I’m serious. Why is she trying to call me about this? Does she want my permission? Did she tell Nate that he cant go, and wants me to back her up in this decision? What?”

“ _She hasn’t told Nathan yet, but she said that if you agree to go and be his adult supervision, she’ll let him go._ ”

Silence once again stretched between them while Beca tried to process what her younger sister was saying. When it became clear that Emily wasn’t joking, Beca burst into laughter, once again pinching the phone between her shoulder and ear while she unbuttoned her jeans and worked them down over her hips, stumbling and tripping her way back into the bathroom.

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?”

“ _Nope_.”

“You see how stupid and ridiculous that is, right?”

“ _I can see how it's ridiculous now, but mom doesn’t know any better. It's not like you guys have really caught up recently. And Becs? You’re 25. Unless you want me explain to her your list of new hobbies over the past couple years, that leaves you as a solid option._ ”

“Em. The kid is 16. Does she not remember what I was up to when I was 16? Or did she honestly just not noti-… Nevermind. I answered my own question, didn’t I.”

Before Emily could reply, Beca grunted in frustration, ripping her vest off and unclasping her bra before leaning into the shower stall to turn the water on and let it heat up.

“This is exactly what I’m talking about by the way. She didn’t give a shit about us way back when. Why does she all of a sudden care so much now? Let the kid go. God knows I did much more risky and dangerous shit than go on a camping trip when I was his age _._ ”

“ _And you’re right. 5 years ago, that’s probably exactly what she would have done. But she’s different now. She’s actually trying, and whether or not you agree with it, her ‘trying’ includes doing what she can to both appease her 16 year old son and assuage her concerns that he will be safe and taken care of. As much as I know you don’t like or respect her, surely you can at least respect the sentiment behind what she’s asking._ ”

Beca sat down heavily on her toilet seat, immediately flinching and holding in the yelp that threatened to bubble past her lips at the shocking cold of the porcelain against her bare thighs.

“I don’t like or respect her.” Beca grumbled, unable to think of any other reply to her sister’s typically eloquent and frustratingly logical statement.

“ _I know Becs. Trust me, I know. But will you at least think about it? It’s in two weeks. I’ll even relay the message, regardless of your decision. Try and remember that this is for Nate. Not for her. Don't stoop to their level._ ”

Beca threw her head back and closed her eyes. That had been an unnecessarily low blow, and as a result, Beca had been beaten and cornered and she knew it. More importantly, Emily knew it, but she was too sweet and kind to point it out.

“Fine”, Beca barked out. “I’ll think about it. You happy?”

Emily’s soft chuckle filtered through the phone speaker. “ _Thank you. And I’m sure Nathan will be super excited. He’s sad that you guys don’t spend as much time together anymore._ ”

“Yeah. Well, it was his decision to move back in with her… not my fault. And don’t act like you know what decision I’m gunna make. I said I’d think about it, not that I’ve agreed to this whole stupid unnecessary thing.”

“ _You’re like an overgrown child sometimes. You know that right?_ ”

“And yet I’m being drafted for adult supervision… weird.”

“ _Shut up_ ”

“You love me”

“ _Always_.”

Beca reached her hand into the shower, noting the temperature had reached a sufficiently scalding level to meet her current needs.

“K. Fine. I’m gunna hang up now and take a shower.”

“ _Ok. I really do love you Becs._ ”

“I love you too, Emily. Tell Benji I said hi, and that I’ll kill him if he hurts you.”

Emily laughed again.

“ _Oh he knows. He’s terrified of you, even though I'm pretty sure he could just sit on you and you'd be done_ ”

“Emily…”

“ _Seriously though. You're so tiny. How is it that Nathan and I both are like, almost 6 feet, and you're 1 inch shy of a midget?_ ”

“It's 3 inches, thank you very much. 4’10” is the limit.”

“ _Best day of my life when I realized I was gunna be taller than you…_ ”

“I'm hanging up now”

“ _You love me_ ”

Beca sighed dramatically into the phone, but the corner of her mouth lifted in a fond grin. “Always”

Emily laughed, before mumbling some final goodbyes, then the phone line cut off.

Beca grasped her phone lightly in her fist and leaned forward, absently rubbing circles on her temples with her still slightly shaking fingers. Camping? Really? How much trouble could a 16 year-old kid get into while camping that he needed supervision? And how did her mother honestly think that of all people, Beca was the responsible adult most qualified for this job? Maybe 5 years ago, but... OK, sure. She would very happily take a bullet for him, and God help anyone that tried to fuck with him in anyway becau- Oh. Ok. She was starting to kinda see the point.

The rest of the implications of the trip suddenly occurred to her, and Beca couldn’t hold in the frustrated groan. Because as much as she tried to convince herself otherwise, she knew her sister was right. She was going to agree to this stupid thing, if only because she knew it would make her brother happy, and that he'd be safe. At the end of the day, the only thing that really mattered to her anymore was that both of her siblings were happy and safe. But that meant that Beca was going to go camping. With a bunch of high school teenagers. As adult supervision.

What the fuck had her life come to?


	2. Chapter 2

After she had scrubbed her skin twice and nearly depleted her stock of conditioner trying to untangle the rats nest that composed like 60% of her hair, Beca threw on her favorite pair of baggy black sweats that she had stolen from Jesse and a tank top, reluctantly descending the stairs and mentally crossing her fingers that her accidental guest had got tired of waiting and called a cab or a friend or stole the neighbors bike and left. Maybe she had just magically disappeared. Or maybe Beca had imagined the voices in a hangover induced delirium, and Beca would be free to start her day in blissful solitude. But as Beca rounded the corner of the stairwell and walked into the kitchen area, she realized she would have no such luck, as the vaguely familiar bartender was lounging comfortably at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee. The pink haired girl raised her eyebrows when she spotted the uncomfortable looking brunette hesitantly entering the room, absently combing her fingers through still damp hair before tucking it behind her ears, adjusting her glasses so her hair didn’t catch awkwardly on the thin wire frame.

“Well hey there sunshine. Welcome to the land of the living”

Beca jumped at the unexpected voice behind her, whirling around fast enough to make her dizzy. Jesse nudged her shoulder as he passed Beca, heading straight to the coffee pot and pulling down her favorite oversized blue mug from the cabinet above. Knowing that her ideal cup of coffee was in good hands and on its way, Beca kept her scowl to a minimum as she gingerly made her way to the breakfast bar, plopping heavily onto one of the barstools. The bartender watched her the whole time, her lips twisted in an annoying smirk.

“Looks like you two had a good time last night.” Jesse intoned, his voice droll and heavy with innuendo. “Staci failed to mention that particular part of your escapades.”

For a second, Beca had absolutely no idea what he was talking about before remembering the dark and angry looking bruises that were marring the usually clear flesh of her neck and chest. Beca internally cursed her hangover addled brain for forgetting about the hickeys before heading down the stairs. If she had remembered, it would have been a very easy thing to throw on one of her oversized hoodies and avoid the additional 20 questions that were inevitably going to be asked once her guest finally left.

Beca did her best to ignore the faint blush she could feel creeping across her chest and up her neck, hunching her shoulders as she leaned her elbows heavily on the breakfast bar, spearing her fingers through the hair at her temples and letting her head hang. Her blue mug appeared in her periphery as Jesse set it down in front of her. Beca grunted her thanks, studiously ignoring how his dark brown eyes joined a pair of luminescent green in staring her down after he meandered back to the counter, leaning his hip heavily against the surface and crossing his arms. Beca untangled her fingers and reached over to slide the mug closer, wrapping her hands around its comforting warmth.

When it became clear that neither of the other individuals in the room were going to break the uncomfortable silence, Beca took a heavy pull of her coffee before leaning back on the stool, finally raising her eyes to acknowledge that yes, she was aware that there was an unexpected person in the room, and no, she didn’t want to talk about the why and how.

“So…”

The bartender -who was apparently named Staci- raised an eyebrow at the sound, but didn’t offer anything else, instead choosing to mirror Jesse’s pose by leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms in front of her.

“Well...Here you are. Still in my kitchen...” Beca’s voice dripped with false levity, clenching her teeth as she stretched her lips wide in a sarcastic parody of a smile.

Staci snorted out a short laugh, her eyes flicking to Jesse with a smirk. Beca got the distinct impression that she wouldn’t need too many guesses to figure out exactly what it was they had been talking about all morning.

“You don’t remember anything from last night, do you?”

Beca pursed her lips as she considered lying, but then she remembered that the main reason she couldn’t remember in the first place was due to a certain lead handed bartender.

“Liter shots,” Beca lifted her hands to sarcastically indicate quotation marks, “of Jameson tend to have that effect”. Staci smirked, not an ounce of remorse or repentance evident on her gracefully sculpted face. Judging by the little she’d witnessed thus far, Beca highly doubted the bartender was even remotely familiar with the feelings in the first place.

“You were ordering doubles. And if I recall correctly, you weren’t complaining.”

“Well I can’t recall at all, so I take no issue with calling you a liar”

“That’s alright. You took no issue with calling me a lot of things last night”. Staci’s comment -delivered in a tone that really only belonged in exceptionally bad and insultingly cheap porn- was accompanied by a wink so salacious and inappropriate, Beca choked on her coffee, the scalding liquid dribbling down her chin. Raising the back of her hand to roughly wipe at her face, Beca looked over at Staci with a glare, though it was missing its characteristic heat when accompanied by the blush that raced once again across her skin. It’s not that she was embarrassed or having some kind of unusual reaction to the admittedly extremely attractive woman at her table. It was more that she was very uncomfortable having this conversation with Jesse present. He may be her best friend, and Beca may share pretty much everything with him anyways, at her core, Beca was an EXTREMELY private person, and not having control over what he was finding out and when made her squirm uncomfortably in her seat. Especially when out of the corner of her eye, she was just able to make out Jesse rolling his lips closed, obviously trying to keep from bursting out laughing. Unable to handle his antics in her discomfort, Beca abruptly turned to him with as vicious a glare she could manage. To his credit, Jesse only flinched a little, though the expression was liberally laced with humor.

“You can leave now.”

Jesse raised his hands in surrender, leveraging himself away from the counter with his hip and meandered into the living room without protest. He was well versed in the many shades and versions that made up the tiny explosive package that was Rebecca J. Mitchell, and she was 100% confident that he wouldn't take her biting tone personally. Besides, it’s not like he wouldn’t be able to hear everything from the adjacent room, but Beca felt immediately better knowing she’d be able to continue this conversation without him in the room. Not being able to see or hear his reactions immediately put her at ease… or as much at ease as possible given the current circumstances.

When Staci remained silent, looking over with a raised and expectant brow, Beca raised a hand and awkwardly scratched behind her ear. She was more than familiar with the whole ‘morning after’ thing, and normally she wouldn't even be phased. But this is the first time that she’d had to deal with the morning after thing in her own kitchen, and that made things exponentially more uncomfortable. Not being able to just… Leave really, really sucked. Staci seemed to know that Beca was very out of her element, and her smile only widened as she waited for the tiny brunette to finally break the silence that was swiftly speeding through mildly uncomfortable and rapidly approaching downright painful. Finally accepting that the bartender was going to do nothing to help her navigate through this awkward situation, Beca let her shoulders slump, leaning back again in her stool and crossing her arms.

“Ok. Look. Obviously I don’t remember what happened,”

“-which really sucks for you, cuz i’m awesome-”

“and I’m sure it’s also obvious that I don’t normally do this kind of thing”

“-pretty sure I’ve watched you leave with enough girls to know that’s a lie-”

“SO” Beca barked out with a glare, more irritated than she’d care to admit by the bartenders casual commentary on her only partially improvised speech. “You should know that this was really just a… you know… one time thing”

For reasons unknown to man, Staci’s smile only widened. She even chuckled a little bit. Beca didn’t know if she was insulted or impressed by the display, so she just kept her mouth shut. When Staci’s chuckles died down, she tilted her chin down, looking up at Beca through her lashes in a way that somehow translated as teasing, flirtatious and condescending all at once. Beca slit her eyes suspiciously as she slowly raised her mug to her lips.

“Is this the part where you tell me to ‘have a nice life’?”

Beca really should have learned her lesson the first time that trying to drink her coffee while interacting with the pink haired abomination in her kitchen was just a generally bad idea. Reaching over for the dish towel that was folded on the counter to clean up the coffee that was running down her chin again, Beca choked out a cough to clear her airways.

“What!?”

Staci shrugged. “I may have watched you in action. A couple times. It’s no biggie. I actually have nothing but respect. I too am a hunter.”

Beca noted the wink with mild disdain, absently wondering if maybe she just had something in her eye. It really wasn't normal how frequently she utilized the expression.

“If you knew what I was about, why did you pick me up last night? Cuz I know for a fact that I wasn’t the one to approach you…”

If she shrugged ONE MORE TIME, Beca was going to kill her. She was sure of it.

“You were making me look bad. What better way to beat out the competition than by actually conquering the competition itself.”

Beca gaped at the tall woman in confusion.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about how I’d watched you leave with enough pieces of ass on your arm to officially feel threatened. Gotta right the balance. Establish who’s boss. You feel me?”

“How are you even a person?” Beca said with no small amount of wonderment, idly considering for all of two seconds asking for further clarification, before abruptly deciding that she really didn’t want to know. “You know what? No. I don't care.” She also wasn't entirely positive the other girl wasn't just fucking with her, and Beca was decidedly over how unbalanced and uncomfortable this whole exchange was making her. “So I guess now that you’ve… ‘conquered’ or whatever, can you please leave? I need to get ready for work”

“Nope”

“What do you mean ‘nope’?!”

“I mean exactly what I said. Nope. I can’t leave”

“And why the hell not?”

Staci sighed, rolling her eyes as though Beca’s question were the dumbest thing she had heard in a really long time.

“Cuz you were my ride. And seeing as I was kind enough to offer you a ride home so that your drunk ass didn’t kill a happy little millennial family before you attacked me and practically dragged me into your back seat, I figure you owe it to me to see me safely home as well. Not that I’m complaining of course. It definitely made that whole ‘conquest’ thing way easier than I had originally thought...”

At Beca’s shocked silence, Staci continued. “Yes sweetheart. Surprise. You were actually the one that came onto me.” Staci smirked, fanning herself sarcastically with a limp wrist. “I don’t blame you. I get it. I know I’m sexy.”

Beca blinked in a slow and exaggerated movement. “Did you just call me easy?”

Oh. My. God. That fucking shrug. Beca’s fingers twitched with the urge to fling her coffee mug at that smug- yep. There it is. A wink- face. She settled for slitting her eyes in the most menacing glare she could manage, but Staci seemed entirely unaffected.

“If you were at least 4 inches taller and not the approximate size of an average 4th grader, that would maybe be scary. As it is, I really just wanna take a shower and sleep in my own bed for a couple hours before my shift starts. So can we get going please?”

* * *

 

“Sooooo…”

Beca scowled at the sound, wondering what it is her life had come to. She still wasn’t entirely positive how it had happened, but roughly 15 minutes had passed since their awkward encounter in the kitchen, and now she was being treated to a spectacular sequel as she found herself tightly gripping her steering wheel at 10 and 2, an annoying bundle of pink and inappropriate innuendos sitting in her passenger seat, obviously not taking the hint that Beca still had exactly zero desire to have a conversation.

Beca had wordlessly handed Staci her phone when they entered her car, the GPS application already loaded so the bartender could enter her address. Beca had hoped that without the need to communicate regarding directions, they could just sit in silence as she navigated through the typically busy intersections under the hot LA sun, but no such luck.

Ignoring the sound, Beca adjusted her sunglasses before raising her cigarette to her lips, pulling in a heavy drag. She could feel Staci’s gaze boring into the side of her face, but Beca soldiered on, absolutely committed to completing the drive in silence.

“Who’s Brittany?”

Beca jerked so violently at the name, she nearly swerved into oncoming traffic. Turning in her seat, Beca shot Staci a look that she could only hope adequately portrayed her irritation, confusion and desperate need for the other women to - _pleasesweetjesusfortheloveofgod_ \- shut her mouth.

“Oooh. Is she an ex?”

Beca ground her teeth together, her tenuous hold on her resolution to keep silent swiftly slipping through her fingers.

“Definitely an ex. Looks like it was a bad bre-”

“Ohmygod do you ever shut up?” Beca bit out, shocking even herself by the heat of the venom in her tone. Staci seemed to understand that she had struck a nerve, and for the first time that morning, her silence was not teasing or playful, her eyes flashing with something that almost looked like an apology.

The kind of quiet that Beca had been fervently praying for since she had entered the kitchen finally descended, but her mind was racing, unable to enjoy the solitude. They stopped at a red light that had them waiting so long she was able to finish her cigarette. Beca glanced down at the smoldering butt, then absently flicked it out the window, rolling it up and cranking the air conditioner. Heaving a sigh, Beca raked her fingers through her hair, grimacing at the way her fingers tangled in the knots slowly forming from the way she had chosen to let it air dry.

“How do you know that name? What did I say?” Beca’s voice was soft, but the edge in her tone was unmistakable. To her credit, Staci -for once- didn’t take the obvious opening for another sexual innuendo and even refrained from shrugging. She just looked over at the small brunette in the driver’s seat, taking in the white knuckles with clear green eyes.

“You said I kind of looked like her.” She raised a hand and pointed to her face with two fingers. “Something about my eyes.”

Beca nodded, but didn’t volunteer any additional information. It seemed as though Staci was finally going to take pity and didn’t press it either. The stillness that descended in the small space of the cab of her car wasn’t quite as uncomfortable as before, but definitely was now twice as a tense.

“We didn’t have sex by the way” Staci intoned once Beca’s grip had loosened enough on the steering wheel for circulation to resume and color had returned to her knuckles. “Well… You tried to get into my pants but...”

Beca raised a brow, having a good idea of where this was headed. Staci frowned at Beca’s unreadable expression, then looked away, leaning her forehead lightly against the window.

“You wouldn’t let me touch you.”

Beca nodded, again choosing not to volunteer any additional information. While this topic was easily 100% more uncomfortable and touchy than anything that they had discussed thus far, the tense quality of the air had inexplicably softened.

“I asked why. Do you remember what you said?”

“No.” Beca flicked on her blinker, leaning forward to check her blind spot before swiftly swooping into a gap in the lane to their right, preparing for the turn that -according to her phone- would land them in front of Staci’s apartment building. “But I have a feeling you’re going to tell me”

“You said that you weren’t going to let yourself get fucked by a girl ever again.”

Beca flicked her eyes to the passenger seat. Staci was staring out the window with vacant eyes, her expression unreadable as she softly chewed on her bottom lip.

Beca flicked her blinker on, taking the right turn maybe just a little harder than she had intended. “Sounds about right”

When Staci didn’t immediately reply, Beca felt herself tense, waiting for another question or comment. To say that this was not something Beca had any desire to talk about would be the understatement of the year.

Staci pulled her head from the window and smirked in Beca’s direction, though her eyes were soft and gentle. “Fucking women, am I right?”

Beca snorted out a laugh, the tension rushing out of her body in a blissful rush. She really didn’t know what she had been expecting Staci to say, but that had absolutely not been it. “Amen sister”

For the first time that morning, the two women sat in companionable silence, Staci resting her elbow on the car door, curling her wrist to absently chew on the corner of her thumb through her grin.

Beca pulled the car to the curb, her phone softly informing them both that they had ‘arrived at their destination’. Instead of immediately getting out of the car, Staci turned in her seat, looking at Beca as though she had made a very important decision.

“I like you”

Beca blanched at the casually thrown out bad idea, pursing her lips with displeasure at the direction Staci had chosen to go. However, instead of being insulted at Beca’s inappropriate reaction, the bartender laughed, swatting Beca’s shoulder with the back of her hand.

“Not like that, dingus. You take ‘damaged’ to a whole new level, and I have no desire to take that on.”

Beca frowned, struggling with the insult she felt at the words, but unable to disagree with the assessment. “Oooookay…”

“I mean like friends.”

Staci’s smile was big and genuine, and for a split second, Beca was able to see in the other woman’s eyes what may have prompted her comment last night regarding the ghosts of her past. The color was strikingly similar, as was the way the corners of her eyes crinkled at the corner as the smile completely took over. The observation was not as uncomfortable and painful as it would have been a couple years ago. She had been a mess for a while, sure. But she had refused to turn into an even bigger mess every time she happened to run into a familiar pair of green eyes.

“Here”

Staci seemed to take Beca’s silence as some sort of sign, because she darted her hand out and grabbed Beca’s phone, easily navigating to the contacts app since the phone was unlocked for the directions.

“If you ever want a body shot buddy or wingman, hit me up. Though I should warn you, I'm a really terrible wingman. I also bartend at ‘The fly’. It's a little dive on the west side. I work there on most of my nights off from the club. Come by if you ever feel like another night of my ‘doubles’” Staci finished fiddling with Beca’s phone, and the sound of a little bell rang from the depth of the other girl’s oversized purse, she guessed to signal the arrival of the text she had just used Beca’s phone to send to herself. Staci dramatically flipped her hand over, holding the phone out for Beca to take, winking at the brunette’s droll expression. Even though it had driven her absolutely crazy earlier, Beca found she wasn’t quite as annoyed by the wink as she had thought she’d be when confronted again by the overly utilized infuriating expression.

Beca hesitantly reached over and accepted the phone, locking the screen with her thumb and returning it to the cup holder in the center consul. If she was being honest, Staci wasn’t really all that bad. The girl oozed confidence and sex appeal, and was as brazen and outgoing as they came, and that generally was a big no-no when it came to qualities in other people Beca was willing to put up with… But she had also shut up when Beca had asked. Not pressed for more information when it was clear as day that there was a juicy story buried shallowly in the sand. If there was one solid way to get on Beca’s good side, it was to respect her boundaries and know when to back off.

“Um… Yeah. Ok.”

Staci looked mildly surprised that Beca didn’t grumble or offer more of an argument, and smiled, tilting her head curiously to the left.

“Yeah?”

“Well…” Beca reached up and lowered her sunglasses, leering her eyes up and down Staci’s body over the top of the rim. “I do like your doubles”. This time, it’s Beca who winks, and Staci looked absolutely delighted, her grin widening so far, Beca absently wondered if it hurt.

“We never officially introduced ourselves to each other, you know. Well… We did last night, but…”

Beca snorted, switching the car into park so she could lean back in her chair and fold her leg under her on the seat.

“It's Staci, right?”

Staci blanched a little in shock and suspicion. Beca just shrugged, absently rubbing the tip of her nose with her knuckle. “Well that's what Jesse called you I kinda assumed…”

Staci’s face relaxed in recognition, the smile returning to her lips with a nod.

“Yeah. And you're Beca, right?”

Beca tilted her head in a nod.

“Well, it got off to a rocky start, but it was actually really nice to meet you.” Staci turned her body more fully to face the drivers side and thrust her right hand out, holding it expectantly in the air.

Beca looked at the outstretched hand before flicking her eyes up to meet Staci’s face, her grin easy and teasing as she waited for Beca to return the gesture. Not feeling like she really had that much of a choice, Beca hesitantly reached out and took the offered hand, letting the bartender shake it firmly twice before letting go, retreating back to her side of the car.

“I have a feeling we're going to get along great.”

Staci opened the door and unfolded her freakishly long body from the seat, the heat of the LA summer rushing into the cool interior of the cab. Instead of closing the door right away, she leaned back in, slinging her purse over her shoulder and reaching inside for her sunglasses.

“Or we’re gunna hate each other. I'm excited to see which one it is.”

* * *

 

Beca stalked up the walkway to the two story house she shared with her best friend, squinting against the harsh light of the setting sun. It had been a long day, though she suspected that most of the pain she’d endured was largely self inflicted. Teaching 5 year olds how to play the piano had the potential to be painful under the best of circumstances. With a raging hangover? Yeah… it hadn’t been pleasant.

Beca heavily shouldered the front door open, dropping her keys in the bowl on the little table to the right of the door with a clang, finally untwisting the infinity scarf she had thrown on that morning to hide her hickeys from the influential children. Jeff came roaring down the stairs, nearly tripping over his feet in his haste to meet his owner, and Beca kneeled down with a smile, greeting her fur baby with nearly as much enthusiasm. God, she loved this dog. After she had given the exuberant collie sufficient attention, Beca straightened, craning her head to the side to see if Jesse was in the living room or kitchen. He wasn’t.

“Lucy! I’m home. You have a lot of es’plaining to do!”

When Beca didn’t get a reply, she frowned, poking her head back out the front door to make sure it was Jesse’s jeep she had seen parked out front. It was. With dawning suspicion, Beca walked to the sliding door that led to the back yard, peering through the glass. Sure enough, the light was on in the detached garage that they had converted into a studio. Beca slid the door open, growling in annoyance as Jeff slipped past her, nearly taking her legs out in his haste to get outside.

When Beca entered the studio, Jesse was seated comfortably at Beca’s Steinway, his brow furrowed in concentration as he scribbled notes on one of the pieces of paper strewn across the music stand to his right. Beca hadn’t played the beautiful instrument in almost 4 years, but she was glad that at least Jesse still used it liberally. Piano’s were meant to be played, not sit around as glorified pieces of furniture. Without looking up, Jesse dropped his pencil and lifted his fingers to the keys.

“Let me know what you think of this. I’m stuck.”

As Jesse began to play, Beca walked over to the plush armchair in the corner, dropping into the cushions with her head resting on one armrest, her legs dangling over the other. Jesse’s latest composition rang through the air. It was good, but way more ‘pop’-ey and cheery than Beca tended to prefer. He was right though. There was something missing in the overly cheerful chord progression, though the melody was pleasant enough. When he finished, Jesse looked at her expectantly. Beca shrugged.

“It's good”

“But…?”

“I dunno. Play that first part again?”

Jesse complied, stopping at Beca’s request when she heard the chord that wasn't sitting well with her.

“I know you're all about sunshine and rainbows, but try going down to the minor 6th instead of up to the 4th. The A flat will sound better. That may add the color you're looking for”

Jesse tilted his head in contemplation before starting again, making the suggested change. Beca had been right. It definitely sounded better. Jesse nodded in thanks, picking his pencil up and making a note on his papers, not bothering to question how Beca had been able to make the suggestion without being able to see the keys. It wasn't exactly a secret that she had perfect pitch. Beca waited for Jesse to finish making his notes, absently twisting her thumb ring with her lean fingers. Once he had finished, Jesse tucked the pencil behind his ear and swiveled on the piano bench so he could face her more fully.

“So this morning was interesting. Is that going to be a thing now? Me waking up to hot pink-haired bartenders crashed out on our couch?”

Beca softly groaned and let her head fall back. It was only a matter of time before he brought up the events of the morning, but honestly she wasn’t all that annoyed. The display was more for show than anything, and Jesse knew it. Beca turned to Jesse with a stern look, her finger raised in accusation.

“That was not my fault. The girl was trying to give me alcohol poisoning with her pours. Seriously Jesse, you should have seen them. They were like… Well it was pretty awesome actually, but still. I would have turned them down if I knew how everything was going to end.”

“Or you could just stop trying to drown yourself in the first place…”

Beca narrowed her eyes at her best friend, but he just shrugged.

“Or not. You gunna see her again?”

Beca was hit with a wave of appreciation for her best friend. In no way was Jesse approving of her current lifestyle, but he also knew that there was a very good reason that she was floundering to the extent that she was, and was not ready for any kind of intervention to sway her in another direction. Occasionally he would scold her when it was obvious that her self destructive behavior had tipped over into unnecessarily dangerous, but for the most part, he left her alone and Beca was extremely grateful. She had asked him about it once, but he had merely shrugged, stating that everyone processed differently, and it was obvious that she needed time and space to figure herself out. She still went to work and paid her bills on time, and while she definitely drank far more than was healthy, she had yet to delve too deeply into anything truly serious, so for the most part, he left her alone. It was this laid back and passively supportive quality that Beca suspected was the cornerstone of why they had stayed friends for the past 15 years. It sure as hell hadn’t been Beca’s winning personality.

“She said she wants to be friends, but nothing more. Apparently I’m too damaged for her taste.”

“You are a hot mess.” Jesse said with a grin, but Beca just rolled her eyes, not bothering argue the point. “But that’s definitely for the best. She was cool and all, but I’m pretty sure she would drive you crazy in the long run.”

“You’re acting like it was even a possibility in the first place”, Beca intoned, looking at her best friend with raised eyebrows. Jesse shrugged, standing from the piano bench with a stretch. Beca could hear his back pop from across the room and winced. She absolutely hated the sound of cracking knuckles and bones.

“It’s my life’s goal for you to get married. I’d look absolutely bitchin in a bridesmaid’s dress.”

Beca barked out a laugh, and Jesse grinned, his boyish charm shining through with ringing clarity.

Jesse walked to the door, opening it and gesturing for Beca to go ahead. She swung her legs around in her seat and jumped to her feet, passing in front of her friend as they both made their way back to the main house.

“Emily texted me this morning, by the way. She was trying to get ahold of you and you weren’t answering your phone.”

“Oh. Yeah. I talked to her”

“How is the munchkin?”

Jesse opened the sliding glass door, waiting patiently for both Beca and Jeff to pass in front of him before following, sliding it closed and thumbing the latch.

“She’s good. She got roped into mediator duty by mommy dearest and wanted to relay a message.”

Jesse frowned, opening the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of water.“It really sucks that she’s being put in that position. I mean, it’s not as bad as it could be with her living out there and all, but that still has gotta suck for her.” He turned and offered Beca one with a suggestively raised brow, but Beca shook her head.

“Yeah. She doesn’t like it. But… I just can’t Jesse. You know why…”

“I do. And I told you that I think you should take as much time as you need before you open yourself up to that woman again. But I’m kinda worried that you are treating this like a permanent solution. You know it’s not, right? That this isn’t a permanent solution?”

Beca dropped into her barstool and lowered her gaze, absently playing with her thumb ring again.

“Yeah.. I… I know. It’s just…”

Jesse remained silent, patiently waiting for her to continue. Beca carefully considered her words. Jesse was pretty much the only person she was ok talking about this stuff with, and that was mostly due to the fact that he never tried to push her into doing anything she wasn’t comfortable with. Even so, it was hard to put voice to the mass of feelings she had about the situation. She tried not to make a habit of thinking about it too much. Generally speaking, all it did was put her in a really bad mood.

Beca huffed out a breath in frustration. “It just feels like if I start talking to her again, it’s like me saying that I forgive her… That everything she did and everything she put us through was ok. I can’t do that.”

Jesse leaned against the counter, frowning in contemplation. “I don’t know Becs. From what Emily tells me, she’s been pretty open with how she knows she fucked up. Maybe if you give her a chance, you could hear that for yourself. It may be something you need to hear, even if you don’t fully believe it.”

“Jesus. How much do you guys talk?!”

Jesse shrugged. “We chat maybe once a month or so? She’s my sister too you know…”

Beca snorted, nodding her consent. Jesse had been around for most of Emily’s life, and pretty much all of Nate’s. She really shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that he was nearly in as frequent communication with her siblings as she was herself. When Beca didn’t say anything further on the matter, Jesse thankfully took it as the sign to change the subject.

“So what did Teresa want?”

Beca scoffed. “Oh. You’re going to get a kick out of this. She wants me to go on this camping trip with Nate that he has planned with his friends… As adult supervision.”

Jesse coughed out a laugh, spraying water in the air as he had been in the middle of a large pull from the bottle of water.

“I know, right! It’s like she doesn’t know me at all.”

“Well… She kind of doesn’t. Or at least she doesn’t know you now…”

“That’s pretty much what Emily said as well.”

“Smart kid. So you gunna go?”

Beca groaned, leaning forward across the breakfast bar.

“You know I will.”

Jesse nodded, not a hint of surprise evident on his face.

“Yeah… Anything for the kids, right?”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

Jesse laughed, uncrossing his ankles and meandered over to the kitchen table, dropping heavily into a chair and propping his feet up on the polished surface.

“Maybe you’ll have a good time. You can even take Jeff. I’m sure he’ll love the opportunity to let out his inner wolf.”

“Jesse… It’s a camping trip with a bunch of teenagers. With teenage boys. How… I don’t think I’ll make it.”

Jesse laughed at her theatrics, untwisting the cap to take another long pull of his water bottle.

“Yeah… You’re pretty screwed.”

“At least you’re honest”

“You know it”


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe surveyed the bundle of tent sticks in front of her, a frown etched in her brow as she contemplated how she was going to go about turning the mess into what was supposed to provide her shelter from the elements for the next couple days. It had been longer than she cared to admit since she had last gone camping, but she was determined to be able to manage this milestone, if only to prove that the invitation she had accepted from Aubrey hadn’t been a colossal mistake. She’s still not positive why the blond had invited her. While they were close friends at work, it’s not like they hung out too much outside of the office. Regardless of the reasons, Chloe was grateful for the excuse to get out of her house. She had moved to LA with her fiance nearly 6 months prior so they could be closer to the army base at which Tom was stationed, but he had almost immediately shipped out, and adjusting to the new area had been harder than she had originally thought. Not like Tom would have been that much help. His circle of friends consisted pretty much entirely of his army friends, and it wasn’t a crowd that Chloe particularly enjoyed. Well… the men were fine, if a little crude. The army wives were entirely too much to handle.

“You doing alright over there?” Chloe jumped at the voice, turning guiltily as Aubrey meandered to her side of the camp site.

“Yeah… I just… It’s been a really long time since I’ve done this” Chloe said, sheepishly tucking her hair behind her ear with a nervous laugh.

Aubrey laughed, walking closer to survey the damage. Without commenting further, Aubrey bent down and started organizing the tent sticks and gestured for Chloe to help her stretch the tent out so that it was laying flat against the ground instead of heaped in a folded pile. Now that everything was stretched out, Chloe was beginning to see how everything was supposed to fit together. She glanced up and flashed the blond a grateful smile and together, the two of them managed to get the tent erected in less than 10 minutes. When it was fully standing, Chloe backed away, surveying their accomplishment with pride, absently wiping her hands on her jeans.

“Thanks again for inviting me. I really appreciate the excuse to get out of the house.”

Aubrey smiled warmly, laying a gentle hand on Chloe’s shoulder. “Oh honey. We’re glad to have you. The girls and I have been doing this trip for years, and the more the merrier. I'm sure everyone is going to love you.”

Just then, a loud yell, accompanied by a crash rang through the campsite, making them both jump.

The blond glanced over her shoulder with a grimace. “Except my cousin. God knows I love the kid, but it would have been nice to leave him behind. ”

Chloe laughed at Aubrey’s expression, then scrunched her nose in thought. “Yeah...Bumper is…”

“An idiot?”

Chloe gasped with a smile, playfully swapping the blonde’s arm. “I was going to go with ‘energetic’”

Aubrey just rolled her eyes. “Well thank god he found a friend to join. It’ll be nice for him to have someone his own age to distract him all weekend.”

Chloe hummed in agreement. “That’s right. Isn’t the friend bringing his sister or something?”

“That’s what I was told.” Aubrey grunted out as she bent down pick up the pieces of Chloe’s tent cover. “I’ve met Nathan a couple times. He’s a sweet kid. I think his sister is also bringing her boyfriend. The text read ‘Beca and Jeff’”

“Oh cool. It’ll be nice not being the only one that doesn’t really know anybody.”

Aubrey looked over with mock outrage “You know me.”

“You don’t count.”

“And you’ve met Berry”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Sure. Once. At the christmas party.”

Aubrey leveled Chloe with a stern glare, though she could see that it was meant to be playful and reassuring. “Oh relax. You’re going to get along with everyone great.”

Chloe smiled nervously, tucking the stubborn curl back behind her ear before accepting the tent bag from Aubrey’s outstretched hand.

“Who are all these people again?”

“Hmm?” Aubrey absently glanced down at her wrist checking the time. If there was one thing Chloe had learned about the taller blond, it was that she was punctual to a fault, and expected everyone else to be the same. “Oh. They’re girls from my old a capella group in college. We try and get together at least once a year for a camping trip.”

At this news, Chloe smiled in delight. “I didn’t know you sang”

Aubrey smiled with a shrug. “It was just for fun. Though the competitions definitely got really intense. You did NOT want to be around me when we were gearing up for the ICCA’s.”

Chloe laughed, though she couldn’t help the pang of sympathy she automatically felt for the other girls. “I've seen you preparing for a court case, so I can definitely imagine.”

Aubrey laughed good naturedly, unoffended at the remark. It was a well known fact that Aubrey turned into a bear on fire when she was under pressure, and had a solid reputation at the firm for being very unforgiving to anyone that didn’t meet her expectations when preparing for a case.

“When is everyone else going to start getting here?”

“They should be here in another hour or so. We just had to get here early to secure the spot”

Chloe hummed in understanding.

As if on queue, a black jeep crept around the corner of the campsite, slowing to a crawl once it approached the pair of women. Chloe heard the parking brake crank as it was pulled, and the engine cut, the passenger door opening to reveal a tall and dark haired boy unfolding his long frame and jumping out. Bumper suddenly appeared out of nowhere and unceremoniously jumped on the poor kids back, causing them both to stumble to the ground. A beautiful tri-color dog suddenly appeared from the jeep as well and immediately joined the fray, playfully yelping and jumping around the pair of scuffling boys.

“Hello Nathan” Aubrey drolled with a smile. The boy glanced up, pushing his shaggy hair out of clear gray eyes, playfully elbowing Bumper out of the way when the energetic teen started shadow boxing his shoulder.

“Hello Mrs. Posen”

“Kissass”, Bumper muttered.

Aubrey glared at her cousin before both girl’s attention was drawn by the driver’s side door opening, revealing a tiny brunette as she stepped out of the vehicle, stretching with her arms high above her head before swinging the door shut with her hip. The resemblance between the girl and Nathan was immediately apparent with the exception of the drastic height difference. Long dark hair was pulled into a messy bun and threaded through the hole in the back of her black truckers cap. She was wearing a pair of short jean shorts and flip flops and a black tank top that easily displayed several tattoos, one of which was a beautifully rendered fiery bird that crawled up her arm, over her shoulder and across her back before disappearing beneath the cut of her shirt. Her ears were liberally adorned with studs and rings and Chloe could tell through the girl’s aviators that her eyes were lined with dark and smoky make up. The girl was gorgeous, and Chloe became immediately self conscious of her dirty jeans and tattered flannel that hadn’t seen the light of day since that time she helped her mother re-landscape the lake house.

Aubrey strode forward with confidence steps, holding her hand out in greeting.

“You must be Beca. My name is Aubrey”

Beca turned her head sharply at the approaching blond, her eyebrow raised as she looked the taller girl up and down. Chloe internally winced. She had a strong feeling that the two women probably weren’t going to get along, though why that suspicion had crept up so soon wasn’t immediately clear. It probably had something to do with the fact that the two couldn’t have been more opposite. Aubrey was all straight lines and neatly pressed corners. Beca seemed like she was… not.

Beca took the outstretched hand and nodded in greeting, through she remained silent, looking around the still fairly empty campsite.

“We the first ones here?”

Aubrey nodded.

“Yeah. I don’t think everyone else will be even leaving until they get off work.”

Beca immediately frowned, her expression laced with confusion.

“Work? Aren’t they all high schoolers?”

Aubrey tilted her head in confusion.

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Isn’t this some high school boy’s weekend get-away or something?”

“...No?”

“Oh.”

The two women fell silent, the only sounds in the clearing coming from the boys that were goofing around by the fire pit, and the occasional bark of the dog.

“So I take it your boyfriend will be coming separately?”

Beca blanched, snorting out a rough laugh.

“I’m sorry. My _what_?”

“Your boyfriend. Bumper said there were going to be three of you.”

When Beca’s confused expression didn’t drop, Aubrey raised an eyebrow. Talking slowly as though she suspected the other girl maybe was just slow.

“Nathan, Beca and Jeff. Is Jeff not your boyfriend?”

Beca abruptly burst into laughter, leaning heavily on the dark jeep to hold herself up. Aubrey frowned. It was clear that she wasn’t entirely sure the dark girl wasn’t laughing at her.

“No.” Beca choked out, lifting her aviators to swipe her thumb across the skin under her eye, her chuckles lessening, but not entirely dying down. “Jeff is not my boyfriend. Though you’d best not tell him that.”

When both girls continued looking at her in confusion, Beca turned her head and let out a sharp whistle. The dog almost immediately came bounding around the corner of the jeep, sitting eagerly at her feet.

“Aubrey. Meet Jeff. Jeff, meet Aubrey.”

At Aubrey’s scandalized expression, Chloe finally let out the laugh she had been holding in, finally alerting the tiny brunette to her presence.

“Oh. This is Chloe.”

Chloe raised her arm stiffly in a wave. Beca nodded her head in greeting, but didn’t offer anything further, instead turning back to the blond.

“So just set up anywhere or…”

Aubrey pointed to the vacant space next to Chloe’s newly erected tent.

“Go ahead and just set up there. I don’t know if you brought two tents, or if yours is big enough for two, but I’m sure Bumper would love to share his with Nathan if that’s ok with you.”

“Nate said that was the plan, so we only brought the one”, Beca stated as she walked over to the back of her vehicle, opening the heavy trunk with a grunt. She was so tiny that once the trunk was fully raised, she had to stand on her tiptoes to follow the swiftly raising door as it reached its peak. Once it became clear that she wasn’t going to offer anything else by way of continuing a conversation, Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Go ahead and bring any food over to the table by my tent. We’re going to start BBQing once my husband arrives.” Beca nodded absently as she surveyed the contents of her trunk, but remained silent. Aubrey looked over at Chloe with an exaggerated eye roll before stalking away. Chloe had a strong feeling that she was going to be hearing her fair share of venting about the alt girl later.

Chloe stood there for a while, watching as Beca starting pulling bags and coolers out of the trunk. She may have been really small, but she definitely wasn’t lacking in strength. She had the legs of a runner, and didn’t seem to be struggling at all with the heavy looking luggage she was unpacking, the muscles in her arms and shoulders rippling with the heavy weight. Regardless, Chloe hesitantly stepped forward, clearing her throat to get the brunette’s attention. Beca’s head snapped up, looking at Chloe over the top of her sunglasses as they rode low on her nose.

“Need any help?”

“Um… sure. I guess.”

Chloe wordlessly bent and grabbed the two nearest duffel bags, dragging them over to the clearing that Beca had been assigned as hers. She didn’t offer any more by way of starting a conversation, but Chloe didn’t mind. She highly suspected that the girl was just uncomfortable given the situation, and guessed that trying to cajole the smaller woman into talking would only make things worse.

Once they had completely unpacked the jeep, Chloe reached up and shut the door, the gesture out of pity more than anything, though she couldn’t help but smile to herself as she imagined Beca trying to reach the high handle. Beca smiled at Chloe in thanks, though she noticed the expression didn’t quite meet her eyes. Beca immediately stalked over to her campsite, opened one of the smaller bags and pulled out the various pieces of her tent, laying them out in a manner that looked random, but was done with enough careful consideration that Chloe suspected was highly intentional.

Chloe looked over her shoulder at her own tent, absently making a mental list of the things she still needed to do herself to get everything set up, but one look at Beca’s small frame as she flitted about her camp space made up her mind, and she made her way over to the adjacent clearing, climbing onto the nearby picnic table so she could watch the other girl work. All the while, Beca didn’t say a word, silently but efficiently putting her tent together with a speed that Chloe couldn’t help but be impressed by.

Chloe watched her work in silence for several minutes before curiosity finally got the better of her.

“Why did you think this was a high school camping trip?”

Beca turned her head sharply at the sound, but otherwise didn’t pause what she was doing, quickly threading the tent sticks through the dark fabric with practiced ease.

“That was an unfortunate side effect of a very fucked up game of telephone.”

Beca’s answer didn’t make any sense to Chloe at all, but she hummed in understanding anyways.

When Beca remained silent, Chloe began wracking her brain for a conversation starter. She wasn’t entirely positive why it felt so important that she get the other girl to talk to her, but the impulse to do so was startling strong. Something about the tiny brunette was unusually fascinating, though it was extremely clear that the sentiment was entirely one sided, as Beca barely acknowledged that she was even there.

“So… Do you live in LA?”

Beca muttered a curse under her breath as she pulled the tent upright, one of the corner pegs popping out of the loosely packed dirt with the movement.

“Uh.. Yeah... You?” The returning question seemed as though it was thrown in as an afterthought. As though it only occurred to her at the last second that the polite thing to do would be to reciprocate, though she really didn’t want to.

Chloe nodded in response, almost immediately blushing in embarrassment when she realized that Beca couldn’t see her from where she was crouched on the other side of the tent.

“Yeah. I actually moved here from Florida with my fiance earlier this year.”

Beca popped up from the other side of the tent and braced her hands on her hips, frowning down at the disobedient corner. Chloe thought she heard the other girl hum in response, but wasn’t entirely sure, and she waited hopefully for Beca to continue the conversation, watching as she started looking around for more pieces of her tent to add to the slowly growing structure.  
It was extremely evident that Beca wasn’t really paying attention to anything Chloe was saying and she was either extremely unpracticed in talking to people, or really didn’t care. Chloe strongly suspected that it was the latter.

The revelation resounded in Chloe’s chest with a vague pang of disappointment, thought she wasn’t entirely sure why. Maybe it was because she wasn’t used to being so thoroughly brushed off…

Deciding to take the hint and not pressure the brunette futher into a conversation she obviously had no desire to be a part of, Chloe sighed and braced her hands on her knees as she stood on the bench before lightly jumping down.

“Well, let me know if you need any help with anything. I may not really know what i’m doing, but at least I can be an extra pair of helping hands.”

Beca nodded at the red heads words, but didn’t move from her position, frowning at something on the tent in front of her, missing the smile that Chloe flashed at her before walking back to her own tent to finish setting up.

Maybe the disappointment was because the only other newcomer there was demonstrating no interest in the solidarity she had been hoping for. Either way, it wasn’t a big deal. There were going to be plenty of other people there, and Chloe felt the nervous excitement for the trip start to creep up again. She enjoyed meeting new people, and was looking forward to making new friends. It also sounded like everyone coming to the trip was part of a singing group, and if there was one thing Chloe absolutely LOVED, it was music. Surly brunette aside, Chloe was resolute in using this weekend to recharge her batteries and have a great time.

* * *

 

Over the next several hours, the rest of the campers trickled in, and Aubrey had been absolutely correct. All of the girls were nothing short of wonderful, though the quiet asian one kind of gave Chloe the creeps. It wasn’t anything in particular about the girl. She was pleasant enough, but Chloe SWORE she heard her mumble something about how her cooler was full of organs, and Chloe made the decision right then and there that she would avoid any situation that would result in the two of them being left alone. However, it was an easy discomfort to ignore. Ashley was outgoing and fun, and Jessica had an extremely infectious smile that never seemed to go away. Flo, who was even shorter than Beca was feisty, but in a friendly way that Chloe couldn’t help but find endearing. Even Amy (Chloe wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt actually calling her Fat Amy, even though the large woman continually corrected her when she left the adjective out) with her crass humor and boisterously loud voice was charming in her own way. Chloe could tell that the girls were all genuine in their love for one another, and Chloe was touched at how easily they accepted her into their ranks as an outsider.

The other new comer however, was having a drastically different experience. The girls were every bit as friendly and welcoming to the tiny brunette, but Beca gave zero indication that she wanted to be included in the group. She resolutely stuck to the edge of the camp site, answering questions that were directed her way politely enough, but like she had done with Chloe and Aubrey earlier, didn’t attempt to further any conversation started up, nor did she actively seek anyone out. She seemed content to sit at the bench, absently sipping her beer while keeping a sharp eye on her brother and dog. Chloe couldn’t help but think that for all of Beca’s bravado, she looked kind of lonely, even though she seemed to be going out of her way to indicate that she was just fine and preferred to be left alone.

Chloe didn’t really try and interact with Beca further, content to mingle and laugh with the other campers there, but she found that she would regularly glance over to check on the smaller woman. Earlier in the evening, she had walked over a couple times to see if she wanted anything, or to try and make it known that she was welcome to join in, but Beca would only shake her head, giving Chloe the same tight lipped smile that didn’t reach her eyes she had given earlier.

As it started to get dark, hot dogs and hamburgers were passed around, and while everyone was sipping on a beer or out of a cup full of Fat Amy’s jungle juice (the Aussie had brought no less than two 5 gallon water coolers of the dangerous beverage), it was clear that everyone wasn’t trying to get too drunk that first evening. However, Chloe strongly suspected that the next night was going to be an entirely different story.

Everyone quieted down considerably while they ate, all seated in chairs pulled up to the fire. It wasn’t cold by any stretch of the imagination, but the warmth from the flames still felt nice. The girls were chatting joyfully, reminiscing over their years together in the a capella sorority, and while Chloe was enjoying the stories - especially the ones that were at Aubrey’s expense- she started to let her mind wander as she looked around. For what seemed like the hundredth time that evening, her eyes landed on Beca, seated further away from the fire than the rest, propping her elbows on the picnic table in front of her with her chin resting in her palm. There were no less than 4 empty bottles of beer on bench by her hip, but even from this distance, it was evident that Beca wasn’t particularly affected by the alcohol, even though she had drank almost double than the rest of the girls and was easily half most of their size. Maybe it was because Beca was the only other one there without concrete ties to the rest, but Chloe couldn’t help but feel a strange sort of kinship with her. It was obvious this feeling was one-sided, but for Chloe, it was there and it was strong. Before Chloe could process what she was doing, she found herself on her feet, carefully making her way around the chairs and fire to the smaller woman.

Beca sat up a little as Chloe approached, but other than a congenial tip of her bottle in Chloe’s direction as she lifted the edge to take a swig, she didn’t otherwise acknowledge Chloe’s approach.

“Mind if I join you?”

Beca raised her eyebrows in question.

“The fire was over-heating me a little, and I kind of feel like i'm intruding with all the stories they’re telling…”

Beca pursed her lips in understanding, though she seemed to consider Chloe’s question for a second before shaking her head and gesturing to the empty bench across the table. Predictably, Beca remained silent, though Chloe had been expecting nothing less, so it didn’t particularly bother her.

Beca seemed tense at first, obviously expecting Chloe to try and strike up another conversation, but after a few minutes of companionable silence, she seemed to relax, returning her gaze to the clearing where she was obviously keeping an eye on her little brother.

The two siblings couldn’t have been more different. Where Beca was brooding and silent, Nathan was outgoing and all smiles. He was polite to a fault, and more than once he had confidently walked up to “Mrs. Posen” to ask if she needed help with anything. The only time Chloe had witnessed anything other than bored apathy from Beca had been when she was interacting with her brother. It was obvious that the two were very close, and the closest thing Chloe had seen to a genuine smile was when Beca was playfully teasing the younger boy about how many hamburgers he had loaded onto his plate once it was announced that the food was ready.

Beca reached into the cooler by her feet and retrieved another beer. Upon seeing that Chloe was empty handed, she silently offered one over, to which Chloe nodded with a soft smile. Beca expertly popped the cap using a thick ring on her middle finger before handing the frosty beverage over, repeating the same task for herself.

The sound of laughter caught both of their attention, and they looked over to see Nathan cackling away as Bumper was comically trying to lick a gob of mustard off of his nose. Chloe caught movement out of the corner of her eye and discreetly looked over to see Beca smiling, shaking her head as she quietly chuckled into her beer.

“Your brother is really sweet”

Beca paused, the mouth of the bottle resting on her bottom lip as she looked over out of the corner of her eye. She seemed to be considering how to -or possibly if she even was going to- respond, before shrugging, taking a healthy gulp out of the amber bottle.

“Yeah. He’s a good kid”

Chloe smiled at the comment, pleased that Beca had actually answered instead of just shrugging or giving another one of her thin smiles. Deciding to try her luck, Chloe set her bottle down, and rested her arms on the table in front of her, leaning slightly forward.

“Do you have any other siblings?”

Beca raised her eyebrows at the question, seeming to catch on to what Chloe was doing, and was weighing her options. She had been careful all day to avoid being downright rude, but pretty much everyone else had gotten the hint pretty early on that Beca wasn’t interested in really interacting with anyone.

“I can always just ask Nathan” Chloe said, rolling her eyes. Though she was careful to give a kind smile as well to make sure that Beca knew she was only teasing.

“Oh come on. Is talking to me really that painful?”

At that, Beca snorted and rolled her eyes.

“A sister. She lives in Oklahoma.”

“Oklahoma? Thats… random”

Chloe was just able to make out the slight twist of Beca’s lips in the dying light, and Chloe couldn’t help but feel a small sense of accomplishment. It wasn’t a full smile, but it was more than she had seen on the smaller girl when not directed at her little brother or dog, so she took it as a win.

“You’re telling me. It’s for school though. Full scholarship”

Chloe blinked in surprise. “Oh wow. Your parents must be really proud”

For some reason, Chloe’s comment made Beca frown, and it was clear she wasn’t going to elaborate further. Chloe felt her sense of accomplishment start to slip, so she wracked her brain for a way to get the conversation back on track. She had long since abandoned the idea that the two of them could actually be friends, but Chloe hated seeing people left out in social gatherings, and since they were going to be spending nearly the next 36 hours in each other's company, she was determined to at least thaw out the icy air so that any interactions for the rest of the weekend were, at the very least, less awkward.

“Still. Oklahoma seems more like the kind of place you leave when going to college… not the other way around.”

Immediately Chloe realized this was the wrong thing to say, as Beca frowned down into her beer bottle. Her lips twisted again, though this time it was into an almost pained grimace. “Depends on what you’re trying to leave.”

Without warning, Beca heaved a sigh and swung her legs around before leveraging herself to her feet. In a few quick gulps, Beca upended her beer, finishing it before gathering up the rest of the empty bottles.

“Go ahead and help yourself to more beer if you feel like it. I brought plenty.”

And with that, Beca was gone, walking swiftly away from the fire and dumping the bottles in a trash bag, whistling for Jeff as she went. The dog exuberantly bounded to her side, and Beca absently caressed his soft ears before rounding the front of her jeep and disappearing into the dark.

Chloe was still staring at the spot where Beca had disappeared when she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.

“Don’t take it personally. I think she’s just a bitch”. Chloe tore her eyes from the darkness and looked up into the frowning face of Aubrey above her.

“I don’t know Bree. I think she seems sad”

“The only sad thing about that girl are her social skills.” Aubrey stated with huff.

Chloe couldn’t help but chuckle in reply. Aubrey wasn’t wrong. Beca’s social skills definitely left much to be desired. But Chloe couldn’t help but suspect that there was more to the petite brunette. In the end it didn’t really matter though. It’s not like she’d likely ever see her again after this trip. Best to just let it go and enjoy her weekend with the people who actually wanted to be there.


	4. Chapter 4

“ _Hey. You’re alive!_ ”

“Shut up Jesse. This is a nightmare.” Beca hissed into the phone, wincing at the crackle from the weak connection.

“ _Oh stop. I’m sure it’s not that bad_ ”

“No. Its worse”

“ _Too many juvenile hormones for you?_ ”

Beca twisted around to glance at the camp site. She was perched precariously on a rock by the lake’s edge, as this was the only place that she had service. Beca was by no means an early riser, but she was still one of the first few to wake, the others being - of course- the bitchy blond and her dumb husband. Honestly, those two couldn’t be more white bread if they tried.

“That’s the thing Jesse. Wanna know how many teenagers are here? Exactly two. Nathan and Bumper. The rest are all these women that went to college together. Very adult and capable of being supervision, women.”

“ _What? I thought that-_ ”

“Yeah. Nate said he didn’t know. All he knew was that it was a camping trip with Bumper, his cousin and a bunch of her friends”

“ _Ah. So I guess the cousin is-_ ”

“Jesse! They won’t. Stop. Singing.”

There was a silence on the other end as Jesse was clearly trying to wrap his head around what Beca had just said.

“ _...Shut up_ ”

“No. I’m not joking. Apparently they were in some lame singing group together and this is some annual get together. I accidentally and VERY unwillingly crashed an annual singing sorority reunion”

“ _Holy sweet jesus_ ”

Beca grimaced as she thought back to the night before. Shortly after she had left the clearing after Chloe’s vaillant but doomed-to-fail attempt at a conversation, the singing had started. Beca wasn’t positive when it had stopped, but it was definitely long enough for her to have surprised even herself by the imaginative ways she had imagined murdering all of the girls in the camp site. It’s not that they were bad. They were actually pretty good. But all that...happiness... really just grated on her nerves to the point of rawness.

“I’m...I’m not going to make it.”

For a moment, Beca thought the call had dropped. The signal was extremely weak, and she had honestly been surprised she had been able to get through at all. However, when she heard a choking sound on the other line, Beca suddenly realized what was happening.

“Are you...Are you laughing at me?!”

The responding howl on the other line confirmed Beca’s suspicions, and she scowled ferociously at the phone in her hand. This was not the sympathy she was wanting right now, though honestly, she felt kind of dumb expecting anything else. This was Jesse afterall…

“I fucking hate you right now”

“ _This is amazing Becs._ ”

“No. This is not amazing.” Beca hissed into the phone, glancing over her shoulder nervously. “This is the exact opposite of amazing. And the worst part, is I can’t just leave, because Nate won’t shut up about how happy he is that I’m here.” She didn’t really care what the girls thought of her little tantrum, but she knew it would hurt Nate if he saw just how much Beca didn’t want to be there.

“ _Well this is what you get for getting all your info through a game of telephone_.”

“Not. Helping!”

“ _Becs. Calm down. You’re going to live._ ”

Beca felt her eyes widen in indignation through her panic. “You don’t know that!”

_“Just relax. Try and have a good time. You’re camping. You love camping. Drink some beer. Eat some s'mores. You only have one more day. You’re going to be fine.”_

“But-”

_“Stop being a selfish drama queen and enjoy the weekend with Nate. You’re doing this for him.”_

Beca physically recoiled at the statement, looking at her phone and seriously considering if there was a way to reach through the phone and strangle her best friend.

_“Look. You’re being dramatic. OK. Fine. The situation changed. It’s not what you thought it would be. But you’re still there for the same reason. Have a good time with the doofus. Give him a hug for me. And for fucks sake, try not to be a total bitch to everyone. I’m sure they’re all very nice and don’t deserve it.”_

As if to illustrate Jesse’s point, the tent closest to Beca’s spot started moving, and the sound of a zipper pierced the still air. Beca caught a glimpse of red before Chloe unfolded herself from the small opening, reaching her arms high in the air with a stretch. After a second of looking around, she caught sight of Beca standing in the clearing, and gave her a small wave. Beca lifted her hand awkwardly to wave back. Even from the distance, Beca was still able to make out her smile.

“I’m not being a bitch. Why would you say I’m being a bitch?”

_“Oh. So you’re not actively avoiding everyone and shutting down even the slightest chance of a conversation with anyone that even tries?”_

Beca grimaced at Jesse’s spot on assessment of her actions, before frowning in frustration. Of course he was right. He was always right. He didn’t need to know that though…

“Actually, no”

 _“Really?”_ Beca could very clearly make out the disbelief in his voice.

“Not with everyone.”

_“I call bullshit”_

“No. Really. I was talking to one of the girls last night at the camp fire”

_“Yeah.... I don’t believe you”_

“Well I don’t care if you believe me.”

_“Tell you what Becs. You actually make an effort and socialize with at least ONE other person for the rest of the trip, I will do all the cleaning for a month”_

“The fuck?”

_“I’m serious. One weekend. One person. That’s it. And i’ll do the vacuuming, dishes, laundry. You name it. For one full month”_

Beca barked out a humorless laugh. She was irrationally insulted by this little bet, but she didn’t want to delve too deeply into the why, though she was vaguely aware of how easy it had been for Jesse to manipulate her into a corner.

“Fine!”

_“Yeah?”_

“It’s a deal”

_“Ok. And if you DON’T, I get to submit your audition tape to UCLA’s masters program”_

“WHAT?!”

_“Oh my god. Are you so far gone that you can’t handle a couple days of being an actual person?”_

“No! I can handle it.”

_“Fine. It’s a deal”_

Beca speared her hand through her hair at her temples, wincing at the knots that had accumulated from a night of restless sleep on a deflating air-mattress. She could back out. Jesse would give her shit until the end of time, but he wouldn’t pressure her further. She knew that. But she was also tired of being treated like she was a social retard, even if she gave little indication that he was wrong. Plus, it’s not like he was actually there to witness her actions. She could eavesdrop on enough conversations around her to fake the interactions if she really put her mind to it. Her mind made up, Beca squared her shoulders, smugness coloring her tone and inflating her ego-

“OK. Yeah. You’re on. It’s been awhile since I’ve done laundry, so it’ll be nice to have my full wardrobe back”

_“Great. I’ll be asking Nate for a full report when you guys get back”_

-only for it to immediately deflate and shrivel.

“Hey! That’s not-”

_“You think I’m dumb enough to take your word for it? My god Becs. I’ve known you since you were ten. Give me a little credit. I TAUGHT you half of your antics.”_

Realizing that she was fully cornered, Beca growled in defeat.

“You really are an asshole. You know that, right?”

_“Yeah...But I’m your asshole”_

“...gross”

Jesse started laughing again, and Beca didn’t wait for him to comment further, ripping the phone away from her ear and pressing the end button with more force than necessary.

Well that little call to civilization had backfired spectacularly. There was no way she could lose the bet now. Jesse had been pressuring her for years to actually do more with her musical talent than act as a glorified babysitter to the rich kids of Beverly Hills, but Beca was nowhere near ready to tackle that particular mountain. Of course she could just blow him off. She knew that if she told him in her ‘serious’ voice not to, Jesse wouldn’t actually follow through. However, now her pride was at stake. It really was just one weekend… Surely she could manage playing nice and being social for a measly 48 hours. Beca chose to ignore how the prospect made a shiver of unease trickle down her spine.

Beca lightly jumped down from her rock, careful to avoid the water’s edge and reluctantly made her way back to the main campsite, pausing by the teenager’s tent to let Jeff out. Both the boys were still fast asleep, and Beca grimaced at the stench of teenager that had thickly permeated the stale air, feeling a pang of sympathy for the border collie as he leapt eagerly out of the cramped space. Nate always insisted on Jeff sleeping in his room whenever he stayed over and the camping trip was no exception, but Beca didn’t mind. Technically, it was his dog.

Aubrey was standing with her husband a ways away by his SUV, and Chloe was leaning over the same picnic table they had conversed at the night before, her silky red hair shining in the early morning sun. Beca felt a pang of jealousy at how put together and cute the other woman looked first thing in the morning. Beca usually just felt like a half dead rat.

Of all the girls there, Chloe was by far the most tolerable. She he had tried a couple times to rope Beca into a conversation over the course of the day before, but it honestly hadn’t been that bad. With the others, this usually this left her feeling uncomfortable and awkward, however Chloe never seemed to cross that line. Of course, she hadn’t been willing to really open up and allow any kind of meaningful interaction to actually happen, but even then, Chloe had seemed OK with just letting Beca walk away and do her own thing. Maybe a little disappointed, but at no point did she push. Not like Fat Amy or Aubrey. Beca hadn’t bothered to learn the names of any of the others.

If she was going to have to play nice, it might as well be with someone that didn’t already make her want to gouge her eyes out.

Heaving a sigh, Beca started making her way over.


	5. Chapter 5

Chloe stepped out of the tent and reached her arms high in the air, stretching her back and feeling it pop and crack. Glancing around, she spotted her Uggs and slipped them onto her feet, careful not to let her sock clad foot touch the dirt. As she wobbled, Chloe saw movement out of the corner of her eye and snapped her head up, almost losing her balance in the process. Beca was standing in the distance, her tiny frame perched precariously on a rock by the water’s edge. Judging by her posture, she had obviously found a rare spot of phone service. Beca was looking right at her, so Chloe tentatively raised her hand in a wave. To her surprise, Beca waved back and Chloe couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Dressed in baggy black sweatpants and a tattered white wife beater with her hair piled high on the top of her head in another messy bun, Beca almost looked like a small child. The thought made Chloe chuckle. Beca’s eyes lingered a little longer before turning back around. 

As Chloe picked her way through the campsite, it was easy to see that no one else had emerged from their tents save Aubrey and Barry, and he looked like he was getting ready to leave. Aubrey had explained the night before that he had gotten a call for one of the houses he had listed, and was scheduled to show it this afternoon. Chloe didn’t particularly care, as she really didn’t know the man, but she could tell Aubrey was disappointed that he wasn’t going to be able to stay. 

As she made her way over to the main picnic table, Chloe was pleased to see that someone had started the fire and was boiling a large pot of water. On the table was a french press, a bag of coffee and a package of heat resistant cups. 

Chloe had just started the slow press when something swept under her legs. She teetered precariously before she felt a strong grip on her forearm and a hand at the small of her back, Beca’s dog darting around her feet, sniffing the ground for any spare piece of dinner from the night before. 

“Shit. You ok?” 

Chloe snapped her head around, her nose almost colliding with Beca’s, the close proximity leaving her momentarily speechless. Beca’s face was void of all traces of sarcasm and disdain, instead looking up at her in concern, hesitation and a little bit of embarrassment. For the first time, Chloe was able to see that Beca’s eyes were actually more blue than gray. It seemed ridiculous for anyone to be that naturally gorgeous. 

Once Beca seemed satisfied that Chloe wasn’t going to fall, she slowly removed her hands, holding them out in front of her as she backed away. 

Chloe blinked through her daze and cleared her throat, smiling in gratitude.

“Uh… yeah. I’m fine. Thank you”

“Sorry about that. He’s still kind of a puppy. Are you making coffee?”

Chloe blinked. That was easily the most she had heard Beca speak at once since they met the previous afternoon. When Chloe didn’t respond, Beca raised her eyebrows, nodding pointedly down at Chloe’s hands. Like an idiot, Chloe slowly looked down. Right. She was making coffee.

“Oh! Yeah” Chloe blurt out, laughing nervously, hoping and praying that Beca wasn't able to see the blush that was heating her cheeks. “Would you… um… do you want some?”

Beca raised an eyebrow, amusement evident on her face. Chloe felt her blush darken. She half expected Beca to retort with some kind of sarcastic reply, and was pretty surprised when Beca just nodded before climbing up to sit on the table, close enough where her knee was brushing slightly against Chloe’s hip. “I would love some. Thank you”. Chloe immediately became intensely aware of the contact and felt her heart race in response. It was like she was suddenly positioned next to a very live wire, and her body was tensing for a jolt. Chloe couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder at Aubrey as an excuse to widen her stance to create a little more distance before looking over at Beca in confusion. Her confusion only grew when the smaller girl leaned back into her palms at looked back, her expression soft and patient. Basically, she was acting 100% NOT like she had spent all of the previous day avoiding human contact like the plague. 

“You seem…”

Beca tilted her head in question. Her face was passive and calm and really didn't change at all. However, her eyes almost imperceptibly hardened. Chloe couldn't have said why if her life depended on it, but this little observation instinctively gave her pause. Made her mind race. 

“...like... the type to take your coffee black. Am I right?”

Chloe  _ swore _ she saw relief in her eyes as hey softened and her shoulders dropped a little from where they had risen around her ears. 

“Splash of cream actually”

Maybe the fluke in her behaviour had been the day before, and not in the dramatic transformation she seemed to have gone through overnight. 

Humming in reply, Chloe leaned over to lift the lid of the cooler and check inside.

“You cool with Hazelnut? That’s all we have.”

Or maybe, Chloe was overthinking it. 

“Only if its not that sugar free crap”

“Oh gross. No. Fat free OK though?”

“Yeah. That works. Thank you”

Chloe busied herself with preparing the coffee, grateful for the distraction. Whether she was overthinking things or not, the differences she was experiencing were... disorienting. 

Chloe handed a steaming cup over, then finished preparing her own, carefully climbing up to sit next to Beca on the table. There wasn’t a whole lot of room on her side, but Chloe still managed to position herself where they weren’t quite touching. That live wire feeling wasn’t going away and she hadn’t felt this way around someone since she had gathered her resolve to ask Katie Presley -by FAR the coolest and prettiest girl in school- if she could sit with her during lunch in the 7th grade.

Neither of them said anything for a while, but the silence didn't quite have the same texture as it had any other time Chloe had tried to interact with the sullen girl, so Chloe forced herself to relax, watching out of the corner of her eye as Beca glanced occasionally over her shoulder, keeping a close watch on Jeff as he sniffed his way around the campsite. Chloe couldn't help but smile when she noticed the dog was also keeping a meticulous eye on his owner, frequently lifting his head, only content to resume his business when he seemed satisfied that Beca hadn’t moved, had no plans to move, and hadn't spontaneously manifested treats of any kind. The symbiosis of the two was actually really sweet to watch and Chloe felt the tension slowly ease from shoulders. 

The two girls drank their coffee in contented silence, enjoying the serene stillness of the morning. It was really nice to get out of the city for a little while, and the lack of smog in the air and sounds of traffic was a very welcome relief. 

“I uh… I’m sorry if I came across as rude last night.”

The sound of Beca’s voice breaking the stillness was almost jarring, but it had nothing on the words she was actually saying. “What?”

“...last night. When I walked away from you like that. I’m sorry if I seemed like a bitch.”

Chloe frowned as she thought back to their last interaction. Sure, Beca had been extremely stand-offish, but Chloe maintained what she had said to Aubrey. The only feeling she had really gotten from the brunette was sense of sadness and isolation. Definitely not bitchiness. 

“Oh. No.” Chloe said emphatically. “I just figured it was a touchy subject and you didn’t want to talk about it. It’s really OK.”

Beca looked over in surprise. “Oh. You sure?”

“Absolutely. Please don’t worry about it.” Chloe said with conviction, smiling in reassurance.

“Yeah… Thanks. I just… I’m not really good with these kinds of things. You know?”

“What kinds of things?”

Beca made a sweeping gesture around the campsite.

“ _ These _ kinds of things. With people.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I dunno… I just… I don’t  _ do... _ people.”

At first Chloe thought she was joking. She assumed that Beca probably had intended for the remark to be brushed off as another sarcastic quip, using her own social awkwardness as ammunition to feed the dry sense of humor Chloe had not-so-unintentionally overheard as Beca had laughed and joked with her brother. And honestly, it almost worked. But whether it was because Chloe was a naturally intuitive and observant person, or she was just that much more focused and keyed into Beca and her words and movements and expressions and whatever else she could possibly observe, she was able to see something else hovering just beneath the surface; a shockingly open sincerity shining in her eyes as they darted anxiously back and forth from Chloe's eyes to a spot just off over her right shoulder. 

She wasn't just making up some excuse for why she had brushed everyone off the day before. She was admitting, in her own small way, that she was  _ uncomfortable.  _ That she was quite probably  _ anxious,  _ but most importantly, she was telling Chloe that she was  _ trying _ , and was asking for understanding, acceptance and probably a little bit of patience. 

Chloe was surprised at how eager she suddenly felt to show Beca that she could do this, could be this for her and scrambled for almost a full minute on what to say. She didn't just want to laugh it off, but she also didn't want to make things awkward by openly acknowledging the vulnerability Chloe had witnessed. In the end, she settled for warm sincerity, hoping that it wouldn't be too much for the obviously very guarded girl. 

Summoning the warmest smile she could manage, Chloe reached over and patted Beca’s knee reassuringly. “Well you’re doing just fine. Keep it up.”

Beca ducked her head, whether it was in surprise or something else, Chloe couldn't tell. But she was pretty sure that was a blush she could see climbing up the back of Beca’s neck. She couldn't even begin to guess whether it was born of embarrassment or because she was flattered by Chloe’s compliment. Either way, it made her smile. 

They fell into silence again, and this one was much more comfortable than the last. Sure, Chloe still felt like she was sitting closer than is strictly considered safe to a raging bonfire, and yeah, she still felt her stomach clench curiously whenever Beca shifted and brushed their legs together. And maybe there was a strange nervous energy racing up and down her spine, pooling in her stomach like a cloud of angry butterflies. But it was still better. Because Beca stayed. She didn't get up and brush the morning off and go back to her distance coldness.

They were almost done with their coffee when Chloe finally decided to put to words the question that had been nagging in the back of her mind for almost a full 24 hours now. 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but why did you come?”

Beca raised a brow at the question, but luckily she didn’t look offended. 

“Well, there are a lot of ‘ _ people’ _ here so...”

Beca hummed in thought, looking down and shrugging into her coffee. Chloe could tell she was deciding whether or not she was going to tell the truth. Beca glanced over and for a barest of moments and their eyes met. Chloe knows their eyes met, because the second it did, her stomach bottomed out and the butterflies spontaneously morphed into something much more substantial. Like bats. Or birds. Or something else equally capable of making her breath hitch and her pulse race.  _ What the hell? _

“I just…” reaching up, Beca absently scratched her ear then twisted slightly in her seat, using both hands to tuck her hair behind her ears. How the hell had Chloe found her so intimidating and scary the night before? She was freaking  _ adorable _ . 

“I wanted to make sure Nate was ok, I guess.” When Beca looked over and noticed Chloe looking at her as though she had spontaneously transformed into a pile of wriggling puppies, Beca pulled a face and rolled her eyes. “Hey! I just didn’t want something stupid to happen without someone here with more than 4 brain cells to deal with it. Heaven help us if it was Bumper having to deal with a crisis”. 

When Chloe continued to look at her with a stupid grin on her face, Beca frowned, the blush from before tinting her cheeks and warming her neck and chest. 

“Whatever dude”

“That’s… really sweet.”

Chloe was pretty sure if Beca rolled her eyes any harder, they'd probably get stuck. 

“No really! He's lucky to have you looking after him.”

“Yeah, well don’t tell anyone. Can’t have you ruining my street cred”

Chloe laughed, surprising herself as she leaned over to bump their shoulders. “You’re kind of a badass. I think you’ll be just fine.”

Beca rocked exaggeratedly with the movement, snorting as she glanced over with a smirk. “Whatever dude.”

Chloe did her best to ignore the way her stomach flipped again at the eye contact, but she couldn’t keep her arms from breaking out in goosebumps. Taking a sip as an excuse to look away, Chloe cleared her throat. For Christs sake. So Beca was being nice and was kind of fun to talk to. This wasn't that big of a deal.  _ Calm the fuck down, Beale _ .

“Well you guys look like you’re very close. That’s really cool”

“I guess.”

“What’s the age gap?”

“Umm.. about 10 years?”

“Are you this close with your sister as well?”

“Jesus Chloe! We playing a game of 20 questions that I was unaware of?”

Beca’s tone wasn’t harsh, but the warning laced in her timbre was unmistakable. Chloe felt herself stiffen and glanced back. Beca’s face had slipped into its sharp and guarded mask, and Chloe could see the muscles in her core twitch and flex like a coiled panther waiting to strike. However, her eyes told a completely different story, whites flashing as though she were actually just a cornered kitten, frantically looking for a way to bolt. 

Chloe ducked her head, guilt pooling in the pit of her stomach. 

“Sorry”, She mumbled into her cup. That had been too much, and after everything Beca had just shared, she definitely should have known better. But it was  _ surprising _ how much she enjoyed listening to Beca. The conversation had only lasted a few brief moments, but Beca’s emotional depth bundled with her honest sincerity, all topped with a sarcastically witty sense of humor was ridiculously attractive, and Chloe felt herself getting sucked in like a moth to the flame. It had felt strangely important that she try to talk to and get to know the mysterious brunette from the very first moment they met, but after an evening of total rejection, Chloe was having a hard time keeping her excitement over the situation in check. 

They lapsed back into silence. Chloe didn’t want to be the one to break it this time, so she waited, holding her breath as she felt the brunette struggle beside her. Chloe half expected her to leave, but was extremely relieved to be wrong. So Chloe just waited, her instincts screaming at her to just shut up, be still, and let the moment pass. She didn't take it personally though. Beca had said she didn't really ‘do’ people, so this awkwardness was to be expected. 

Like Chloe had hoped, her patience paid off when after several uncomfortable minutes, she felt Beca shift. 

“So…Uh... You said you were fro-AHHHH!”

A piercing shriek cracked through the air, making Chloe wince and Beca duck her head as she yelled out, clapping her hand over the ear that was closest to where Aubrey seemed to have materialized out of thin air, whistle clasped between her teeth.

“The fuck?!”

Aubrey shot Beca a glare, (“ _ Language _ !”) before starting to clap. 

Loudly. 

“Ok ladies! Get up! We did NOT come here to sleep all day. Up Up UP!” 

Beca looked at Aubrey with wild eyes, her exasperation very clear and evident on her face. Chloe felt the giggle in her chest threatening to break loose, and she lost the fight all-together when Beca jammed her finger in her ear, wiggling it while she flexed her jaw. Beca shot Chloe a glare, but it was lacking any real heat. Like she said;  _ adorable. _

Around the campsite, she could hear the moaning and grumblings of the other women as they reacted to having been so rudely awakened. Just as Aubrey was lifting her whistle to her lips again, one of the tents violently ripped open, a very disheveled Fat Amy emerging with all the grace and poise of a birthing wale.

“You get that whistle out of your mouth right now you skinny bitch or I’m gunna snap one of your legs like a toothpick!” 

This time, it was Beca who snorted out a laugh. Aubrey raised an eyebrow at the threat, and Chloe watched the showdown in fascination. Aubrey’s eyes narrowed in challenge, only for Fat Amy’s shoulders to hunch in reply, her chin dropping like a bull, waiting for the slightest hint of red to begin it’s charge. Aubrey’s jaw clenched, and Chloe lept off the table, hastily placing a gentle hand on her arm. “I think they’re awake Bree. Maybe just give them a second?”

“And save what’s left of our eardrums in the process?” Beca grumbled, shooting Aubrey another dirty glare, still flexing her jaw and grimacing as she rubbed her ear. . 

Aubrey rolled her eyes, but thankfully released the whistle from her teeth where it dropped to hang from a chain around her neck. 

“Ok. But for serious. Everyone needs to get up. It’s already 8:30, and we have a big day ahead of us.” 

The sounds of cursing and grumblings intensified in the air, and Chloe could clearly see Fat Amy slit her eyes and shoot Aubrey a glare. Chloe gingerly made her way back to the table, climbing back up to her previous perch as she looked over at Beca, widening her eyes and silently mouthing ‘wow’.

Beca shook her head, blinking slowly. “Yikes. Someone has a-”

“-very Type-A personality.” 

“Not what I was going to say. But I guess that works if by ‘A’ you mean-”

“What was that noise?”

Both girls turned to see Nathan and Bumper walking up, the taller boy rubbing his eye with the palm of his hand, his hair sticking up comically at the back of his head. 

“Oh dude. That’s my crazy cousin. She’s a raging-”

“OK! Who’s going to help with breakfast?” Aubrey yelled out, returning from where she had been rummaging through an ice chest by the opening of her tent. In her hand was a giant pan, a carton of eggs nudged securely under her arm. 

She looked at both Chloe and Beca with a raised brow, obviously expecting them to enthusiastically and immediately jump in.  

“Yeah….I’m out,” Beca said dryly, hopping lightly to her feet. When Aubrey narrowed her eyes in annoyance, Beca shrugged. “Gotta feed the dog. Sorry.” 

Beca turned to Chloe and met her eyes. “Um… Thanks.” Chloe pinched her brow in question. 

“For the coffee.” She rushed out, her eyes flicking almost nervously to Aubrey before returning to Chloe’s. “That was… nice.”

Before Chloe could reply, Beca spun away, whistling for her dog as she went.

Aubrey watched her walk away until she was out of sight, then turned to Chloe in confusion. Chloe however, didn’t notice, wrapped up as she was in her thoughts, a soft smile creeping across her face. 

“Beale!” Chloe jumped, turning just in time to tense in preparation as Aubrey unceremoniously shoved everyone’s breakfast into her arms, rolling her eyes for good measure at Chloe’s frantic attempt to keep from dropping the eggs. 

“Oh for goodness sake. Just start cracking.”

* * *

 

 

Breakfast was an uneventful affair, the rest of the girls trickling out of their tents in various stages of readiness for the day. The only person that didn’t look like they had been dragged out of bed upon threat of death was Jessica, her smile full and bright as she walked over to Chloe in sympathy, offering to take over. The rest looked like they needed a solid bucket of caffeine to get their respective gears going, so Chloe busied herself making more coffee, the looks of appreciation almost comical as she passed the steaming cups around. 

Beca didn’t resurface until much later, declining a plate of eggs with a gentle shake of her head. Chloe was just able to make out the lingering scent of cigarette smoke as the brunette walked by, plopping heavily onto the bench next to her younger brother. She picked at his plate a little and stole a piece of bacon, but other than that, Beca seemed content with only another cup of coffee.

Once it looked like everyone was mostly done, Aubrey stood up and started barking out orders for everyone to get suited up. Apparently they were going to be spending the day at the beach as it was only a short walk from the campsite.

 

20 minutes later, Chloe was placing an over flowing ice chest in the sand, shaking her towel out and dropping heavily, pulling her shirt off as she went. It was still fairly early in the day, but the southern Californian heat was already out in full force. Aubrey was directing Ashley and Jessica as they set up a volleyball net, shooting annoyed glances at Flo who was doing cartwheels in the sand. When Chloe spotted Fat Amy, she was unable to hold in her laugh. The large woman was wearing a ridiculous striped one piece bathing suit (complete with sleeves) as she waddled over to the water, one hand holding up a giant innertube complete with a duck’s head erupting from the side, the other clutching a tall plastic cup, full to the brim with something that was radioactive green. Whatever it was, Chloe would bet money that it wasn’t a virgin. Lilly was... Well she actually didn't know where Lilly was. Chloe tried not to let this bother her. 

The boys were the next to join, running down the beach and shedding clothes as they went. Nathan was the first to reach the water’s edge and ran in until he was up to his knees before diving, his head popping up a few seconds later several yards out. Bumper bellowed out a war cry before throwing himself forward, making sure to upend as much water as possible into his friend’s face. The sounds of barking and yipping filled the air as Jeff followed right behind, barking playfully as the boys started an epic splash battle in the shallows. It was a remarkably beautiful day, and Chloe sighed with contentment, filled with a sudden sense of peace and joy to just be there. 

“Is it cool if I park here?”

The soft voice made Chloe jump, whipping her head around and shielding her eyes from the sun. Beca stood towering over her, a towel slung over a shoulder and a large bag hanging loosely off her elbow. At first, Chloe thought the question was rhetorical, but after a second, she realized that Beca was actually waiting for a reply. 

“Oh! Of course.”

Beca nodded, laying out her own towel and and lowering herself to the ground. She was wearing another pair of shorts and a loose black shirt with a gaping neckline hanging over one shoulder, the ties of her dark bikini secured in a loose knot at the back of her exposed neck. 

As soon as she was settled, she reached up to loosen her hair tie and shook her head so her hair slipped and spilled around her shoulders. Again, Chloe was hit with how incredibly pretty Beca was. It almost took her breath away. 

Now Chloe had always considered herself a people person. She was one of those types of people that could walk into a crowd and make friends with just about anybody. She was confident and sure and an extrovert in every sense of the word. However, as Beca moved around beside her, rummaging through her bag and donning her signature aviators, Chloe felt another wave of dizziness as her stomach clenched, the butterflies returning with a vengeance. It was then that Chloe realized she was actually  _ nervous _ . Since when did she get nervous? She had kind of assumed that her reaction that morning had been a one time thing, born of surprise at witnessing the startling transformation of her seemingly antisocial camp mate. But if anything, her nerves seemed  _ worse _ . 

Chloe reached over and opened her ice chest, pulling out a beer and looking to Beca in question. It was WAY earlier than she would be ok with drinking under any other circumstances, but Chloe desperately needed to relax. Maybe a little bit of alcohol would help her loosen up. She was a little bit worried that Beca would judge her for her early afternoon drinking, but was relieved when Beca nodded, so Chloe pulled out a second as well, handing them both over and looking at Beca’s ring pointedly. Without missing a beat, Beca took them both, expertly popping both lids before handing one of the bottles over, leaning back to squint up at the bright sky, the sun reflecting harshly off her glasses. 

Beca’s hair glistened as it fell back from her shoulders, the bright light exaggerating auburn and gold highlights. Chloe absently wondered if they were real. 

“So...where do you fit in with this crazy bunch?”

“Hmm?” Chloe asked, rubbing her hands along her legs and clasping them in front of her ankles to keep from fidgeting. 

“Well… You looked like you were being introduced to just about as many people as I was, so…”

“Ah. Yeah. I’m not a Bella, if that’s what you’re asking” -Beca rolled her eyes at the moniker- “I actually work with Aubrey at her law firm as an admin assistant.”

“And you volunteered to hang out with her on your time off because…” Beca widened her eyes, before leaning in conspiratorially. “Wait. Is she blackmailing you? Have you been threatened? Blink once for yes, twice for-” “Oh stop it.” Chloe laughed out, playfully swatting Beca’s arm with the back of her hand. “She’s not that bad once you get to know her.”

“Um… Fat Amy’s not that bad.  _ You _ , are not that bad. Aubrey…. Aubrey is pretty bad”

Chloe rolled her eyes as with a wry smile. “Thanks?”

“Hey. Do you see me talking to anyone else?”

Chloe’s stomach jolted. It hadn’t even really been a compliment, but Chloe felt her cheeks warm at Beca’s almost praise. The air around them tightened, the nerves in Chloe’s stomach starting again to twist and coil. 

Chloe lifted the bottle to her lips and took a heavy pull. 

“Well they’re certainly an interesting bunch, I’ll give them that.” Beca mumbled, nodding in the direction of the other women.

“Oh I dunno. I like them. They’re all so different.”

“Different is… a word...”.

Beca smiled when Chloe laughed, taking a sip from her beer as though she were trying to hide it. 

Without warning, Beca abruptly sat up and pulled her shirt off, unbuttoning her shorts to reveal dark bikini bottoms as she leaned back, propping herself up on one elbow and rolling half onto her side. Chloe blinked at all the newly revealed skin, careful to keep her face neutral and still as she quickly swept her eyes across the reclined form next to her. Beca had the body of a dancer, and even in a completely relaxed state, the various mounds and valleys of her impressive musculature glistened in the sun.

Something was happening. Chloe felt weird. Her skin felt tight, and electricity raced along her arms and legs making her feel twitchy and jumpy. She busied herself with slowly tearing off the label of her beer bottle, focusing as she tried to ignore her surroundings and get her shit together. Her eyes, however had a mind of their own, flicking up of their own volition to glance at the mostly bare woman to her left. 

Chloe took another long pull from her bottle.

This was getting ridiculous.

“I um… I should probably put some sunscreen on,”  Chloe blurt out, hastily starting to leverage herself to her feet. “I think I left mine in the tent.”

“I got you.” Beca chimed, reaching over and pulling a tube out of her bag.

Chloe paused in her retreat, her mind racing. Now what?

Beca handed the tube over, smiling at Chloe’s mumbled thanks. 

Not seeing another option, Chloe let herself fall back onto her towel, her movements almost mechanical when she poured the lotion into her palms and started applying it to her legs and and arms despite the fact that she had thoroughly sprayed herself down less than 15 minutes prior while she was waiting for Aubrey to load the ice chest. 

She may be ruining any possible chance of getting a tan, but Chloe couldn’t help but be grateful for the excuse to focus on something that didn’t make her feel like she was on a roller coaster. 

“Want me to get your back for you?”

Or not. She was  _ definitely  _ still on a roller coaster, and judging by the state of her stomach, it had just slipped over into its first dive. 

When Chloe didn’t respond, Beca rolled her eyes, rising to her knees and moving over so she was kneeling behind Chloe’s back. 

“Here.” Beca gently reached around and pulled the tube from Chloe’s grasp. She heard a click seconds before her whole body jolted at the feel of warm fingertips trailing across her back, nails grazing in teasing swipes across her skin as she swept Chloe’s hair out of the way. 

Beca’s hands were cool, sweeping over her shoulders and down her sides and Chloe’s heart began to race. She felt her core tighten, goosebumps radiating out from every spot that Beca touched.  

Chloe knocked the rest of her beer back, tossing the empty bottle to the side. 

“Whoa there sparky. I’m sure it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, but here it’s not even noon”

“Sorry. Thirsty.”

“I brought some water if you-”

“I’m ok. Thank you though.”

Chloe was vaguely aware that her voice sounded high and pinched, but it was about all she could manage as Beca rubbed her down. Her hands were cool but Chloe felt like she was burning

In all, it probably didn't last more than 30 seconds, but the relief was profound when Beca finally sat back. “All done.”

Chloe released a lung full of air she didn't even noticed she had started to hold, more than a little bit mortified when she realized she could hear herself panting as she tried to catch her breath.

Maybe Chloe was just not used to hanging out with another girl like this. After all, she hadn’t really had any meaningful interaction with a friend that was a girl other than Aubrey since she moved to LA over 6 months ago, and it’s not like she regularly invited Aubrey to help her put on her lotion. That totally made sense, right? And when was the last time she had been touched? 3 months? 4? Chloe had long ago stopped keeping a mental tracker of how long Tom was away when deployed. He didn't have a particularly dangerous job, so she wasn't really worried for his safety. So yeah. It had been a long time. That probably didn't help. Right?

Chloe reached into the cooler for another beer and handed it over. Beca smiled and rolled her eyes as she popped the lid and handed it back. 

“Am I your personal beer opener now?”

“Only cuz you’re so good at it.” Chloe quipped back, wasting no time with chugging a healthy portion down. 

“Do you need help with sunscreen?” Now why in the hell had she just offered that? Was she a total and complete masochist?  _ Jesus Christ Chloe! _

“Nah. Nate helped me screen up when I made him put some on back at the tent. The kid would be a lobster if left to himself.”

Chloe laughed, her relief making the sound breathy and unnatural. “Beca the wonder sister, at it again.”

Beca rolled her eyes, but smiled good naturedly.

And then they were quiet. Chloe couldn't really think of anything to say, and Beca seemed content to just sit there, sipping her beer as she watched her brother play in the waves. And normally with literally  _ anyone  _ else, it really wouldn’t be a horrible thing. But right  _ now _ , Chloe wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do with herself, didn't quite know where to look. Avoiding looking at Beca altogether would be kind of weird, right? Did she look at her friends a lot back home when she would hang out with them at the beach? Chloe honestly couldn't remember. At least she knew for sure that she had never really questioned it back then. However, it somehow felt like looking over was just overall a bad idea. Because she knew that if she glanced over at the woman next to her, she would probably end up staring or say something stupid or something else equally mortifying and  _ oh my God what the hell was happening? _

She looked. 

“Do you go camping often?” Ok, maybe that wasn’t so bad. 

Beca lifted her bottle to her lips and took a healthy drink. Chloe felt her eyes flick down to follow the bobbing movement of her throat. 

“Not recently. We used to go a lot when I was younger though.”

“Who’s we?”

“What?”

“You said ‘we’”

“Oh. Um… yeah. My uh… my family used to be into that sort of thing.”

Chloe could hear the trickle of unease in the other’s girl’s voice, so she nodded gently. Chloe may have felt overall like she was being an idiot, but she was still a fast learner and saw no need to have a repeat of the last time she had asked too many questions. 

This time, Beca didn’t even try to hide her gratitude.

“So… what about you?”

“My family?”

“No. Do you go camping often?”

“Oh god no”, Chloe laughed. “My family took us to Yosemite when I was really young, but most of the time we would just vacation at our beach house in Miami. My fiance is really into hunting, but I’ve never gone with him.”

“Huh.”

Without warning, both girls were sprayed liberally with water. “God Damnit. Jeff!”

Hearing his name, Jeff’s tail exploded and he eagerly hopped over, nearly throwing himself into Beca’s lap, licking her face excitedly.

“Jeff! No! Get off-”

The dog ignored Beca’s pleas, his tail wagging so hard it thumped almost painfully against Chloe’s arm. Beca’s sunglasses were pushed askew up on her forehead, and she thrust an arm back to help keep her balance. When Jeff wouldn’t relent, Beca fought her way to her feet, fending off his exuberance with one hand while shielding her face with the other. Nate jogged up, shaking his head in a halo of water. 

“Hey Becs. Do you know what time it is?”

“Um...no? Why do you want to know?”

“You don’t have your phone on you?”

“No. I left it in my-Stop it!”  Chloe gasped out a laugh as Nate threw Beca easily over his shoulder. “You stop it right now Nate!” Beca thrashed and kicked, but she was so small and her brother was so big that it didn’t really make a difference.

“Nathan Jacob Mitchell! I’m not kidding. I will kill you. I wil-”

Beca’s ranting was cut off as Nate unceremoniously jumped in the water, pulling his sister down with him. Beca popped up a second later, wiping water out of her eyes while she glared at her little brother. Nate was unphased, laughing heartily and splashed her playfully in return. Beca flipped him off before reaching around to wring out her hair. 

As Beca started wading her way back to shore, Chloe got to her feet, gathering Beca’s towel and going out to greet her. She was still laughing by the time she reached the water’s edge, and Beca raised a brow.

“Hey Nate?”

Nate came jogging over, bending down to playfully splash the two girls. 

“Yeah Becs?”

“I think Chloe looks a little...warm. Don’t you think?”

Chloe felt her eyes widen, and she dropped the towel, holding her hands up.

“Um...I’m just fine, actually”

Catching onto his sister’s drift, the teenager looked over, his eyes glinting with mischief. 

“Yeah… I think you’re right. Should I help her?”

“Beca! Tell him to stop”

Beca smiled, her eyes mirroring her brothers as the young boy stalked closer. 

“It’s certainly the gentlemanly thing to do...”

“Beca! No!”

Before Chloe could fully register what was happening, she felt herself lifted in the air and squealed as she was unceremoniously carried into the water. She just managed to suck in a breath and squeeze her eyes shut before she was dragged under. When she managed to come up for air, Chloe hastily wiped the water and hair out of her face. Nate had jogged back to his sister’s side, and Beca was bracing herself against his arm, bent at the waist as she laughed so hard she seemed to be having a hard time catching her breath. Beca’s smile and the joy radiating off her face was nothing short of infectious, and the butterflies in Chloe’s stomach erupted violently, tickling her insides as they beat and battered their way around her ribcage. She immediately felt dizzy and light and buzzing with a strange kind of happiness Chloe had never felt before. She tried to frown, but couldn’t quite make the expression stick, so persistent was the smile that was fighting with the corners of her lips. 

Chloe surged forward, throwing a wall of water at the laughing woman in front of her. Beca shrieked, shielding her face and leaving her unprepared for the assault when Chloe wrapped her arms tightly around Beca’s shoulders and threw herself to the side. Chloe was just able to see Beca’s expression, liberally laced with shock and indignation, but her eyes were still smiling, the edges crinkling in the joy of the moment. 

A small hand landed on Chloe’s collar bone under the water, the grip settling her stomach as they broke the surface. Beca immediately started laughing before playfully shoving Chloe away, splashing her liberally as she ran back towards the beach.  

And as they all proceeded to play and dance in the shallow water, Chloe couldn’t help but think that she was really  _ really  _ glad Beca had come. 

 


End file.
